Feast of the Righteous Elder Simeon and the Prophetess Anna

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple

Service was held online do to COVID restrictions

Liturgy was cancelled this morning because of the blizzard 

We have begun our morning meditations, which are held via Zoom. These are audio only. Please remember that we are doing the best we can.

The Akathist for St Athanasius may be found here

The contemperary Akathist to St Anthony may be found here.

As the spring thaw finally disappears into the warming earth, the annual gardening process begins. The thick stocks of winter weeds are thrown into the fires and the dried leaves and grass mulch is cultivated into the rich soil. Lumps of hard ground are broken down and leveled. As we gaze into the soft moist earth, dreams of ripe red tomatoes, crawling cucumbers, furrows of fluffy letters and rows of tender green onion take root in the soil of our imaginations. Out with the old! But what about the new? Where are the new seeds? What happens when the new seeds are not planted? The clearing and the cultivating is wasted as the weeds quickly take over again.

The prophecy of Isaiah, "A herald's voice in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths,'" is fulfilled in the proclamation of St. John the Baptist.

"Reform your lives! The reign of God is at hand… Every tree that is not fruitful will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize with water for the sake of reform, but the one who will follow me is more powerful than I… He it is who will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire."

John the Baptists knew that his baptism of repentance, of clearing and cultivation, must be followed by a planting. The baptism of Jesus includes such a planting. The new seed is the Holy Spirit Who was planted in each of us at the time of our Baptism.

Even at the time of His own baptism by John, when Jesus came out of the water, "… The sky opened and he saw the Spirit of God descend like a dove and hover over Him." We received the same Spirit through the anointing by the priest of the consecrated Chrism at the time of our Baptism. It is by the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we produce good works. As we struggled to keep the weeds of our former life from taking over, the seeds of the Spirit to germinate and takeover with its rich produce.

The baptism of John was one of clearing and cultivating. The baptism of Christ with the Holy Spirit is one of planting into life. My life is the freshly cultivated soil in the Holy Spirit is the new seed. What can I do now and at all times to assure the continued and free growth of the Spirit in my life?

Having been "baptized into Christ" and "put on Christ," you have been made conformable to the Son of God; for God having "predestined us to the adoption of sons," made us "share the fashion of Christ's glorious body." Being therefore made "partakers of Christ," you are properly called Christs, and of you God said "Touch not my Christs, "or anointed. Now you are made Christs by receiving this emblem of the Holy Spirit; and all things were in a figure wrought in you, because you are figures of Christ. He also bathed Himself in the river Jordan, and having imparted of the fragrance of His Godhead to the water, He came up from them; and the Holy Spirit in substance lighted upon Him, like resting upon Him. In the same manner to you also after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams, was given the Unction, the emblem of that wherewith Christ was anointed; and this is the Holy Spirit; of Whom also the blessed Isaiah, in his prophecy respecting Him, saying in the Person of the Lord, "the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach glad tidings to the poor."

For Christ was not anointed by men with oil or material ointment, but by the Father having appointed Him to be the Savior of the whole world, anointed Him with the Holy Spirit, as Peter says, "Jesus of Nazareth, Whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit.…" And as Christ was in truth crucified, and buried, and raised, and you in likeness are in Baptism accounted worthy of being crucified, buried and raised together with Him, so it is with the anointing also. As He was anointed with the spiritual oil of gladness, the Holy Spirit, Who is so-called, because He is the Author of spiritual gladness, so you were anointed with the ointment, having been made partakers and "fellows" of Christ.

But be aware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Spirit, is mere bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to say), after the invocation, but the gift of Christ; and by the presence of His Godhead, it causes in us the Holy Spirit. It is symbolically applied to the forehead and your other senses; and while your body is anointed with the visible ointment, your soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit.…

Having been anointed, therefore, with the holy ointment, keep it unspotted and unblemished in you, pressing forward by good works, and becoming well-pleasing to the Captain of your salvation, Jesus Christ, to Who be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptized; let us also go down with Him, and rise with Him.

John is baptizing when Jesus draws near. Perhaps He comes to sanctify His baptizer; certainly He comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; He Who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through Spirit and water.

The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: "I ought to be baptized by You." He is the lamp in the presence of the Sun, the voice in the presence of the Word, the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the greatest of all born of women in the presence of the Firstborn of all creation, the one who leapt in his mother's womb in the presence of Him Who was adored in the womb, the forerunner of the presence of Him Who has already come and is to come again. “I ought to be baptized by You"; we should add: "and for You," for John is to be baptized in blood, washed clean like Peter, but only by the washing of his feet.

Jesus rises from the waters: the world rises with Him. the heavens like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open. The Spirit comes to Him as to an equal, bearing witness to His Godhead. The voice bears witness to Him from heaven, His place of origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form like a dove so that so long ago announced the ending of the flood and so gives honor to the body that is one with God.

Today let us do honor to Christ's baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of humanity, for whom His every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all humanity, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of Him Who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received--though not in its fullness--a ray of it splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

- St Gregory Nazianzus

Reflection by Rev Msgr William Levkulic
Each year of our life we slowly journey to Theophany. Anticipation builds as each day passes, and we never really know what we will find when we get there. It is a yearly rehearsal for the entire journey of our earthly existence. Each of us has hopes and dreams of what tomorrow will bring. So few of those hopes and dreams ever come to fruition because of the ever-changing kaleidoscope of life through which we journey. At any given moment we must be ready to change direction and construct an entirely new game plan. Mary the Virgin had such a moment, questioned it momentarily, then said: "Let it be done to me as you say." (Luke 1:38)

Even for the most mundane details in day to day living we must exercise the greatest care that we use the God-given gifts given us at our initiation into the life of Christ. The Scripture reading for today gives us the rule by which we must live--the rule by which Mary, the Mother of God, lived. "My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord." (Luke 1:26) We cannot be one kind of person during the six days of the week and then change into our Sunday best to give communal praise and worship to God. We must be the children of God every day.

As we continue our daily journey, we encounter many occasions when we choose for God or against Him. Very few of these encounters seem to be one on one with God or His messengers. In reality though, every encounter with any child of God is an encounter with God Himself. "As often as you did it for one of the least brethren, you did it for Me." (Matthew 25:40) If our being really proclaims the greatness of God, then our witness will make it easier for all others, at least in some small way, to draw closer to God… a Theophany through us.

The hopes and dreams of today and all tomorrow pale in the light of the great promise proclaimed to us in the beautiful Canticle of Mary. "He has upheld Israel His servant, ever mindful of His mercy; even as He promised our fathers, promised Abraham and his descendants forever." (Luke 1:54-55)

“You spoke harsh words against Me,” says the Lord, “yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You? ’ You have said, ‘One who serves God is foolish; what profit have we from keeping His ordinances, and why do we go as suppliants before the face of the Lord Almighty? And now we call foreigners blessed, and those doing lawless deeds are raised up—they even oppose God and go free. ’” Then those who feared the Lord spoke these things each to his neighbor, and the Lord listened and heard them, and He wrote a book of remembrance before His face for those who feared the Lord and reverenced His name. “They shall be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day that I make them My possession, and I will choose them as a man chooses his own son who serves him. Then you shall return, and you will discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.
“For behold, the day of the Lord is coming, burning like an oven. And it will burn them up, and it shall be that all foreigners and all who do wickedly will be stubble; and the day that is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord Almighty, “and neither root nor branch will be left of them. But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings, and you shall go forth leaping as little calves released from their bonds. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under your feet on the day I do this,” says the Lord Almighty.

Reflection by Rev Richard Lambert
Although four months into the Church year, January 1 marks the beginning of the civil new year. The new calendar we hang on our walls holds for everyone the hope of a fresh start, a clean slate. For Orthodox, January 1 is more than just a holiday to celebrate the beginning of the civil year. Today is also a holy day with a double commemoration. Today we celebrate both the feast of the Circumcision of Christ and the feast of St. Basil the Great.

The reading for the feast from Genesis recalls the covenant of God with Abraham. (Genesis 17:1-4) At the beginning of the civil year the Church reminds us of the promise of God to Abraham and to us, his descendants. God is our God and we are His people.

Christ's plan for salvation included His full participation in all of the law of Moses, in the covenant of God. Although God, Christ subjected Himself to the law to free us from the law. The Gospel of Luke states: "when the eighth day arrived for his circumcision, the name Jesus was given to the child, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived." (Luke 2:21) Christ's life of sacrifice was publicly proclaimed in the Temple on the eighth day after His birth. From the very start Jesus was ready to bring salvation to the world.

This day also introduces us to a strong teacher of the Truth, St. Basil the Great. He strove to find the type of life one aware of the covenant of God might live to gain salvation. St. Basil strongly believed that to be saved, one must live in a regulated life. He, therefore, set down his Rule, a set of laws that if adhered to would ensure salvation. Many religious men and women today live this Rule.

As all religions are constantly reminded, as Christ submitted Himself so are we who celebrate this feast reminded that a life without adherence to laws cannot lead to salvation.

It is uncertain [who the prophet with the personal name of Malachi was]. Since the prophet harshly criticizes the Jewish leaders who have returned with the people from Babylonian exile, he may have adopted the pseudonym "Malachi," meaning "My messenger," for fear of retaliation.

Even though God has brought the long exile to a close, these people seem to have learned nothing. They are still indifferent to God's Torah (Law), and seek to prosper at the expense of the righteous.

They are dissatisfied with God and question the existence of His love for them. It seems that God favors the wicked, and the existence of a just Providence ruling the world has been questioned. "Where is the God of justice now?" (Malachi 2:17) Biblical poetry often refers to God's coming as judge to reassure the faithful that their obedience and suffering are not pointless. Even if the world at large seems to disregard the well-being, health injustice of all people, we must follow God's righteousness rather than public opinion.

Perhaps in our last minute running around the following reflection may bring some sanity and place us on the right track.
The world would be better off if it's people tried to become better. And people would become better if they stop trying to become better off. For when everyone tries to become better off, nobody is better off. But when everybody tries to become better, everybody is better off. Everybody would be rich if nobody tried to become richer. And nobody would be poor if everybody tried to be poorest. And everybody would be what he ought to be if everybody tried to be what he wants the other fellow to be.
Rev Terence Lozynsky

Suggested Scripture Readings: Malachi 2:17-3.5; Mk 1:1-18

"How could this be?" "You've got to be kidding!" "That's impossible!"

These are very common reactions to events that catch us by surprise. And no less common are these reactions from a very old man who is given the news that he is about to become a father.

The passage in St. Luke's Gospel (1:5 – 25) narrating the dialogue between the angel Gabriel and the priest Zechariah is an announcement of the conception of John the Baptist. It gives us some insight into Zechariah’s doubts, fears and anxieties. Zechariah a is a very holy man. He is also a man burdened by his human intellect and emotions and who thus doubts God. Zechariah doubts because what is revealed to him does not conform to human standards.

Zechariah is a holy man, a man of intense faith, and a loving husband. His reaction to the surprising news is understandable. Yes, he is a Temple priest, but he is also a man who lives with the realities of everyday life. How else, on first instinct, should this man react? An angel appears to him and tells him he is going to father a son. And this son will be a great man in the eyes of God.

Wouldn't we like to have a divine message come to us as it had to Zechariah? No matter how much God reveals Himself to us, we still have doubts. We still want proof, we want something more tangible to help us believe. Have we allowed ourselves to rise above the noise of everyday life? Can we hear the voices of the Angels and the voices of God above the noise of our job, our studies, our pleasures? Or does the noise of everyday life dictate to us. Has the noise of everyday life become our god? God does speak to us; but we can only hear Him if we make the effort to hear Him. If we would only stop and listen, we would hear our heavenly Father speaking to us.

And when we do hear the voice of God do we make an excuse not to hear him? "I'm too old." "I'm too busy." "I have to take care of the children." "My job won't allow me the time." We say we believe in God, but do we trust God to allow Him to use us, to work through us? God can still do great things through us. As with Zachariah, God works miracles through us to bring salvation to the world.

Rev Gene Hutter
Suggested Scripture Readings: 1 Sam 1:1-28; Lk 1:5-25

Again it is time for the great feast of the Nativity of Jesus Christ. He is born of a woman and becomes man in the flesh and yet remains truly God as we contemplate the Mystery of the Incarnation. There He is, the Son of God, born in poverty of a stable. There He is, the son of David, fleeing Egypt with His parents to escape the tyranny of the earthly ruler. There He is, the son of Mary, preaching to His own people in Nazareth only to be run out of town.

There He is, the Son of Man, curing the sick, raising the dead and proclaiming the love of His heavenly Father only to be rejected by the learned because they are uncomfortable with His words and works. There He is, the Teacher, misunderstood by His disciples. There He is, the Lover of Mankind, showing compassion to the repentant publican and the adulterous woman only to be ridiculed for associating with sinners. There He is, the Messiah, entering the city of Jerusalem to the exultant cries of the populace. "Hosanna, blessings to Him who comes in the Name of the Lord." Only five days later these same crowds will yell, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" There He is, the Anointed One, betrayed, hanging on a cross in agonizing, slow death only to be taunted by passersby. There He is, the Glorified Christ, risen from the dead and by His "death trampling down death and to those in the grave granting life."

Yes, this is the Son of God made man Whom God sent into the world for the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of eternal life. Yes, this is the Baby we see in the manger. This is the Child we have come to worship. Yes, this is the Man Who calls us to follow Him in His footsteps to proclaim the good news of salvation today.

Yet today the message of Jesus the Christ meets the same indifference, ridicule, rejection and scoring as it did when Jesus walked the earth. How little has changed! What hurts all the more is to see this lack of acceptance on the part of Jesus' followers today. We reject His message each time we are selfish, unforgiving, unkind or indifferent. Jesus calls us to rebirth in our Christian commitment to His Word. He calls us to share in His divine life as He shares in our humanity. He calls us to hear His Word with attention and to live it out each and every moment. The Christmas Christ calls us to share life more fully. How shall I respond?

Reflection by Rev. Wesley Izer
Suggested Scripture Readings: I For 1:17-31; Jn 6:35-51

St Ignatius' Letter to the Ephesians

...Live in harmony with the mind of God. Surely, Jesus Christ is our inseparable life; for this is the mind of the Father, just as the bishops, though appointed throughout the vast, wide earth, represent for their part the mind of Christ....How much more do I count you happy who are closely knit to him (your bishop) as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is to God the Father. As a result, the symphony of unity is perfect. Let no one deceive himself: unless a man is within the sacred precincts, he has to go without the Bread of God....It follows then, he who absents himself from the common meeting, by that very fact shows pride and becomes a sectarian....

Some people are, you know, accustomed with vicious guile to go about with the Name on their lips, while they indulge in practices at variance with it, that are an insult to God. These you must shun...There is only one Physician, both carnal and spiritual, born and unborn, God became man, true life in death; sprung both from Mary and From God; at first subject to suffering, then incapable of it - Jesus Christ Our Lord....

The carnal cannot live a spiritual life, nor can the spiritual live a carnal life, any more than faith can act the part of infidelity, or infidelity the part of faith. But even the things you do in the flesh are spiritual, for you do all things in union with Jesus Christ.

God Who is beyond fullness did not bring creatures into being out of any need of His, but that He might enjoy their proportionate participation in Him and that He might delight in His works seeing them delighted and ever insatiable and satisfied with the one Who is inexhaustible.
The world has many poor in spirit, but not in the right way; and many who mourn, but over money matters and loss of children; and many who are meek, but in the face of the impure passions; and many who hunger and thirst, but to rob another's goods into profit unjustly. And there are many who are merciful, but to the body into its comfort; and clean of heart, but out of vanity; and peacemakers, but who subject the soul to the flesh; and many who suffer persecution, but because they are disorderly; many who reproached, but for shameful sins. Instead, only those are blessed who do and suffer these things for Christ are following His example. For what reason? "Because there's is the kingdom of heaven," and "they shall see God," and so forth. So that it is not because they do and suffer these things that they are blessed (since those just mentioned do the same), but because they do and suffer them for Christ and follow His example.
In everything that we do God looks at the intention, as has frequently been said, whether we do it for Him or for any other motive. Therefore when we wish to do something good, let us not have human applause in view but rather God, so that always looking to Him we might do everything on His account; otherwise we shall undergo the labor and still lose the reward.

Suggested Scripture Readings: 1 For 12:31-13:13; Jn 17:21-26

We ought to pray, not according to any bodily habit nor with a habit of loud noise nor out of a custom of silence nor on bended knee. But we ought soberly to have an attentive mind, waiting expectantly on God until He comes and visits the soul by means of all of its openings and its path and senses.

And so we should be silent when we ought and to pray with a cry, just as long as the mind is concentrated on God. For as a body, when it does any task, is completely occupied with the work and all its members help one another, so also the soul should be totally concentrated on asking and on a loving movement toward the Lord, not wandering and dispersed by its thoughts but with total concentration, waiting expectantly for Christ.

And thus He will enlighten, teaching one how to ask, giving pure prayer, that is spiritually and worthily of God in bestowing the gift of worship "in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24)

Take the example of a businessman. He is not content with only one manner of making a profit but he ambitiously stretches out in all directions to increase and multiply his prophets. He tries one technique after the other and then runs still to something else, cautious only that he not incur a loss.

So let us develop in our souls the versatility and the expertise in order to gain the genuine and great price, namely God Who teaches us how truly to pray. In this way the Lord finds rest in the well intended soul, making it a throne of glory and He sits on it and takes His rest.…

If, then, you believe these things to be true, as indeed they are, look to yourself to see whether your soul has found its guiding light and the genuine meat and drink which is the Lord. If you have not, seek night and day in order to receive. When therefore, you see the sun, seek the true Sun. For you have found the true and good Light. For all the visible things of the senses are but a shadow of the true realities of the soul.

For there is another man beyond the sensible that is within. And there are other eyes within which Satan has blinded in the ears which he has rendered deaf. And Jesus is come to make this inner man healthy. To Him be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

Suggested Scripture Readings: Ps 145; James 5:12-18

When given the chance, those who know the least about religion sometimes show the best understanding of God. We see an example of this in the scriptural lesson from the Old Testament book of Jonah. Jonah had run from God's call to preach to the city of Nineveh until God taught him an unforgettable lesson during three terrifying days in the belly of a great fish. Jonah finally went, still with some reluctance, to preach to the Ninevites. Before he had journeyed halfway across the city, sounding his message of repentance, the people of Nineveh believed God. They promptly proclaimed a fast and wrapped themselves in sackcloth and ashes. Even the king of Nineveh joined the fast and penance. Indeed, he issued an official proclamation commanding all the people to observe the fast and do penance. "Who knows," he declared, "God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish."

This pagan king showed a remarkable insight into faith.

Faith is a response to God that precedes the evidence we would like to see. The king of Nineveh was willing to take the venture of faith without prior guarantees or money back offers. God may relent, but the king had no guarantees that He would. Faith is always like that. Whether we are talking about faith in another human being, or faith in God, we have to act on what we know, without any assurance that those actions will be justified. After all, isn't that what faith is all about, acting before all information is in? Faith involves deciding without knowing everything involved.

We should not take this to mean that faith is synonymous with ignorance. There is no virtue in blind trust. Faith calls for the clearest understanding and the best information available. You ought to know as much as possible about the person you intend to marry, the church you hope to join, the God you wish to serve. In the final analysis however, faith requires us to act without guarantees.

Rev Msgr Judson Procyk

Suggested Scripture Readings: Jona 3:1-10; Mt 12:38-42

As we journey through the liturgical year with Christ, we see Him born in Bethlehem, we see Him baptized by John, we see Him cure the sick, and raise the dead. We also see Him suffer from the inconveniences of travel, we see Him rejected by His own people and misunderstood by His disciples. Finally, we see Him betrayed by His friends, crucified, and buried. But we also experience His glorious resurrection on the third day.

The life of Christ is a life dedicated to the work of the Father. Christ lives to bring the good news of salvation and new life. And Christ calls us to participate in His life, in His ministry, in His suffering, and in His glory and ordered that we too may spread the good news of salvation to all the world. We are His martyrs.

Yes, martyrs, for this word means witness. We are His witnesses if we take our Christianity seriously and follow the Lord. We are His witnesses if we live and share His life with all. Alas, how hard it is though to be a witness to Christ.

We want to take our own way, the way of comfort and ease. Have we taken the call to be His disciples seriously? Have we to rejected Christ's message of good news? Have we sold out to the world, the flesh, and evil because their message is easier to follow? Have we betrayed our Lord by our own indifference to Him and to His Church?

This season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ gives us an opportunity to re-focus our life on Christ and His message. Now is the acceptable time to rededicate ourselves to His service in this world. We can accomplish this by pausing each day in learning more about Him Whom we have promised to serve at our baptism. Take up the Gospels daily and read a passage. Reflect on its meaning and how it applies to your daily life. Then, the most crucial act, make some good resolution about how you can practice this aspect of the Gospel in your life and then act on this resolution. As Christ's life was filled with triumph and glory so too there was suffering. As followers of Christ, we too, sharing his triumph and glory and also his suffering.

Christ is calling, inviting us to grow in our commitment to Him. Only "I" can respond to His call!

Sr Jean Maria Cihota

Suggested Scripture Readings: Heb 11:1-12.4; Jn 3:5-8, 11-21

Sacred Scripture is the account of God's special relationship with humanity in the course of salvation history. One way the sacred writers would call attention to this unique relationship between God inhumanity was by emphasizing the special births of important religious persons to women recognized as long past that the years of childbearing. In this way, what was he humanly impossible with scene is possible only through the presence, activity and providence of God.

Two examples immediately come to mind. One is the birth of Isaac by Sarah when she and Abraham were in their old age long after she was capable of bearing children. The other example is the birth of the Forerunner, St. John the Baptist, to Zechariah and Elizabeth after she too had been ridiculed by her peers for being unable to bear children.

Today the Church in her Sacred Tradition gives witness to God's special involvement with us in the importance of the Mother of God in salvation history by first emphasizing the barrenness of St. and and therefore celebrating her conception of Mary.

For the Church, Mary always held a unique and venerated role. She is seen as the New Eve, the mother of a restored in revived humanity. Her stature has both the Mother of God and Mother of the Church gives witness that God is not removed from humanity. On the contrary, God is with us in Christ.

As we celebrate the conception of Mary in the barren womb of St. Anne, we are asked to read and reflect on Jacob's dream of the ladder bridging earth and heaven. (Genesis 28:10-17) this dream becomes a reality in the conception and person of the Mother of God. God descends to interact with a human couple (Joachim and Anna) in their sterility. Humanity in turn conceives and gives birth to a sinless woman who, in giving birth to Jesus the Son of God, will help it ascend and encounter God the Father. In Christ, through Mary, we stand assured that God is not isolated from us. Rather God is always with us, and we are as in Him.

Rev Daniel Magulick

Suggested Scripture Readings: Gn 26:10-17; Heb 9:1-7

Self-reform and peace are not achieved through the patients which others who show us, but through our own long-suffering towards our neighbor. When we try to escape the struggle for long-suffering by retreating into solitude, those unhealed passions we take their widows are merely hidden not erased; for unless our passions are first purged, solitude and withdrawal from the world not only fosters them but also keeps them concealed, no longer allowing us to perceive what passion it is that enslaves us. On the contrary, they impose on us and illusion of virtue and persuade us to believe that we have achieved a long-suffering and humility, because there is no one present to provoke and test us. But as soon as something happens that does arouse in challenge us, our hidden in previously unnoticed passions immediately breakout like uncontrolled horses that have long been kept unexercised and idle, dragging their driver all the more violently and wildly to destruction. Our passions grow fiercer when left idle through lack of contact with other people. Even that shadow of patience and long-suffering which we thought we possessed well we mixed with our brethren is lost in our isolation through not being exercised. Poisonous creatures that lived quietly in their layers in the desert display their fury only when they detect someone approaching; and likewise passion-filled men, who lived quietly not because of their virtuous disposition but because of their solitude, spit forth their venom whenever someone approaches and provokes them. This is why those seeking perfect gentleness, must make every effort to avoid anger not only towards men but also towards animals and even inanimate objects.

I can now remember, when I lived in the desert I became angry with the rushes because they were either too thick, or too thin; or with a piece of wood, when I wish to cut it quickly and it could not; or with a flint, when I was in a hurry to light a fire in the spark would not come. So all-embracing was my anger that it was aroused even against inanimate objects.

Suggested Scripture Readings: Scorch 28:1-9; James 1:19-27

Redeemer of the nations, come,
That we may fast the Virgin’s fruit
And every age in wonder gaze
On such a birth, worthy of God!
No earthly father’s seed played here,
But mystic Breath touch Virgin womb:
The Word of God took human form
And human flesh blossomed divine.
The Virgin’s womb a burden bears;
A Mother still remains a Maid.
God Lives within His fleshly shrine;
Banners of grace His presence show.
See! from His bridal-chamber, now,
From the high halls of purity:
A giant, both human and divine!
A champion shows us how to run!
Proceeding from the Father, God,
To God the Father He returns;
He races to the gate of Hell,
Through death, to life, with God to dwell.
You bear the trophy of Your flesh
To God eternal, with Him one;
Strengthen our mortal, earthly frame,
With conquering grace: the price You’ve won,
The cradle where You lie breaks forth
In light that changes nigh to day;
A light that cannot know dismay
As faith takes up the radiant beam.
Glory to You, O Virgin-born,
Our Lord and with the Father, God,
In unity of Spirit, now
And ever, through eternity.

Suggested Scripture Readings: Is 7:10-16; Lk 1:26-38

Christmas is coming! There are cookies to bake, shopping to be done, packages to wrap. Every store is home to a Santa. Where, in the midst of this commercial bustle, is Christ, our Lord and Savior? Santa Claus has become the secular symbol for Christmas. However, as Byzantine Christians journeying towards Nativity, we have a special guide who points the direction to the true heart of the Christmas season: the incarnation of God the Son. It is St. Nicholas whom we meet. Patron of Byzantine Christians, Nicholas is an ideal model for us during the season of preparation. St. Nicholas was the holy and prayerful archbishop of Myra. According to legend, Nicholas wished to care for even the least of his flock. With the aid of the village craftsmen, Nicholas secretly distributed toys and blankets to the poorest children in his diocese. The gifts may have seemed like "magic" to the children, but they represented many hours of hard labor for Nicholas and his helpers. When Nicholas died, those small children, now grown, decided to carry on his tradition of secretly carrying for the poor as fitting memorial to their beloved archbishop.

Who are we looking for during the season of preparation? Santa Claus or St. Nicholas? Santa Claus is a magical figure who effortlessly makes our wildest fantasies come true. St. Nicholas exhausted his time and personal wealth in the service of others. Do we expect to complete fulfillment of our material desires or are we giving generously of our time and talents to aid others? Do we feel slighted if our gifts are not received with exclamations of gratitude, or are we content to be seen only by our Heavenly Father? Are we teaching our children to see Christmas as a shopping spree, or are we instilling in them the desire to serve others?

It cannot be stressed too strongly that St. Nicholas' generosity sprang from his prayerful holiness. As Archbishop of Myra, St. Nicholas stood as a visible symbol of the faith during a time when Christians were being mercilessly persecuted. Indeed Nicholas himself endured at least one extended imprisonment because he refused to compromise his beliefs. His gift of toys pales in comparison to the wonderful gift of faith which St. Nicholas shared with his people. In emulating St. Nicholas, it is this example of holiness that we should remember most clearly.

St. Nicholas saw Christ in each person he met, no matter what their circumstances. In caring for the children of his diocese, he cared for the Christ Child. He met all of their needs, both physically and spiritually. Let us try to discover Christ, both in others and in ourselves. He is there, waiting for us. St. Nicholas points the way.

Mary Jensen

Suggested Scripture Readings: Ps 139; Jn 5:39-47

Reflection by St. Macarius
For God desired to have fellowship with the human soul and espoused it to Himself as the spouse of the King and He purifies it from sordidness, and washing it, He makes it bright from its blackness and that shame and gives life to it from its condition of death. And He heals it of its brokenness and brings it piece, reconciling its enmity.

For, even though it is a creature, it has been espoused as a bride to the Son of the King. And by His very On the power of God receives the soul, little by little changing it until He has increased it with His own increase. For He stretches the soul until it becomes the bride, spotless and worthy of Him.

First, he begets the soul in Himself and increases it through Himself, until it reaches the perfect measure of His love. For He, being a perfect Bridegroom, takes it as a perfect spouse into the holy and mystical and unblemished union of marriage. And then it reigns with Him unto endless ages. Amen.

Suggested Scripture Readings: 1 Jn 4:7-12; Jn 3:16

Therefore He was not Man, and then became God, but He was God, and then became Man, and that to deify us.
St. Athanasius, first discourse against the Arians, 39

In a few short weeks Christian throughout the world will radiantly observed the coming of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh. From a didactical perspective, our Byzantine Catholic tradition exhorts us to spiritual preparation prior to this festive celebration. This time takes upon itself a penitential character. We are encouraged to increase our prayers and fasting, and to be tireless in performing good works, to joyfully give alms, attend church services more frequently, to approach the Holy Mystery of Reconciliation with a firm purpose of amendment, and to be certain that every reception of the holy Eucharist be a worthy one.

If we adhere to and follow these guidelines, our hearts will be likened to a “new manger," and our souls resemble the “new Bethlehem" of antiquity. This transformation will create a most fitting and appropriate resting place for the King of Peace.

The Church assists us by placing upon our lips a most fitting prayer, "Come,O Jesus, our Savior, redeem and save us.” This ardent petition implored serves as a constant reminder of our Lord's own words, “...apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) Redemption and salvation come only from Christ; we cannot achieve it by our own merits.

It is precisely for this salutary purpose that the Messiah Jesus comes, as the holy Prophet Micah prophetically stated in centuries past, to "gather the lame and the outcast." Sin made us lame and unworthy of God's goodness. By continuing to live in serious sin, we remain outcasts in God's sight. It is God through Jesus Christ who reconciles us to Himself by coming to the cave of Bethlehem.

The Holy Woman Martyr Barbara, whose memory we are commemorating today, was well aware of her frailties and limitations even though she lived in the exemplary Christocentric lifestyle. On her way to martyrdom she addressed God with this prayer,
Lord Jesus Christ, Who has formed heaven and earth, I beg you to give me your grace and hear my prayer for those who are mindful of Your Name and Your Passion, grant that You will not remember their sins, for You know our frailty.

Preparing for this sacred season is just as important as celebrating it. May we take this time to reconcile and recommit ourselves to Christ so that He may fill us with messianic peace.
Rev Frank Firko

Suggested Scripture Reading: Micah 4:1-8; Jn 12:20-36

To him who knows himself, knowledge of all things is given. For knowing oneself is the fulfillment of the knowledge of all things.
Forsake small things to find what is precious.
Let him who appears wise in this world become a fool, that he may become wise.
This is love of wisdom: that even if in the most insignificant and trivial things that happen to a man, he is always vigilant.
It is better for you to free yourself from the bond of sin then to free slaves from slavery.
It is better to make peace with your own soul than to pacify those who are at variance by your teaching.
It is better for man to purify himself for God than to speak of God as a theologian.
It is better for you to be slow of tongue, yet full of knowledge and experienced, rather than to pour forth a flood of teaching because you are sharp of mind.
Love stillness more than filling the hungry in the world, bringing many nations to worship of God.
It is better for you to be anxious about rising up your own soul from the passion then to raise the dead. He who perceives his own sins is greater than he who raises the dead by his prayers.…
When does a man know that his heart has attained purity? When he considers all men good, and no man seems to him impure or profane, then he is truly pure in heart.
If you do not have stillness in your heart, at least be stilling your tongue. And if you cannot keep your own thought disciplined, then at least discipline your senses. And if you are not alone in your mind, then at least be alone in your body. And if you can do nothing with your body, at least be grieved in your mind. And if you cannot fast for two days on end, at least fast till evening. And if you cannot wait until evening, at least take care not to eat your fill. If you cannot show mercy, speak as a sinner. You are not a peacemaker; do not be a troublemaker. If you are not zealous; at least be resolute in your mind.

St Isaac the Syrian

If anything, the prophet Habakkuk shows in his very short book, that he is a realist. He knowledges without mincing words that yes indeed we are a sinful people. We are people who do not hesitate to indulge in injustice, strife, discord, greed and any and all sorts of evil ruination. And yes indeed, we are worthy of punishment. But then he sums up his realistic attitude with this prayer,

Oh Lord I have known Your renown
and feared O Lord Your work.
In the course of years revived it,
(renew today Your wondrous deeds of the past)
in the course of years make it known,
in Your wrath, remember compassion. (3:2)

Sure God, we deserve Your anger and how well we know You can show it, but we also know well that You are compassionate.

How do You show Your compassion? How do You "suffer with us?" By sending us Your only and well loved Son.. Yes, You sent Him to be God-with-us in our joys and our sorrows.

God sent us His Son to be the visible and living expression of His compassion. The vastness of God's compassion is shown us. The Son’s compassion for sinful creatures lifts our despair about our broken human condition to allow us to see a source of hope. "In and through Christ we know that God is our God, a God Who has experienced our brokenness." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

God is with us – with us deeply, compassionately, tenderly. This is the message, the "good news," that Habakkuk and all the prophets were trying to reveal to us: "God, our God, is a compassionate God"

M.S. George

Accordingly, the Son of God became the Son of Man, so that the sons of man, that is Adam, might become the sons of God, the Word begotten of the Father from on hight, inexpressibly, inexplicably, incomprehensibly and eternally, is He that is born in time here below, of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God - so that those who are in the first place born here below might have a second birth from on high, that is, of God. He, then, has on earth only a Mother, while in heaven only a Father. And for this reason He calls Himself Son of Man: so that we might call God our Father in heaven. “Our Father,” He says, “Who are in heaven.”
Therefore, just as we servants of God are mad sons of God, so too the Master of servants is made mortal son of his own servant, that is of Adam, so that the sons of Adam, who are mortal, might become the sons of God, in accord with the saying, “He gave them power to become the children of God.” So too the Son of God tasted death because of the fleshiness of HIs father, so that the sons of man might partake of the life of God through God, their father according to the Spirit. He, therefore, is by nature Son of God; we, however, by grace.

St Athanasius

Suggested Scripture Readings: 1 Jn 3:1-2; Jn 1:9-14

When we are walking through the unknown territory and appear lost, we quickly search for a map to find the correct path.
When we send we were separated from the Father. Our eyes were closed to God's will and we were shackled by our pride. What the prophecies of the Messiah foretold is that the way we could recover our sight and break our bonds is by following the promised Redeemer.

The Emmanuel, to be born of a virgin, is the road to the Father. Strikingly, the prophets do not portray a worldly Messiah, great in earthly power and riches. The Messiah they foresaw is a Messiah filled with justice, humility, meekness, and love. The Messiah is a servant who gives Himself completely to the will of the Father. Yet even while emphasizing His lowliness, the prophecies herald His Kingship, a Kingship more powerful and unique than any the earth could envision.

The birth of the Christ Child is the prophecies come to life. The humility of the Savior and King is manifested by the physical origins of His birth. Christ is born in a cave, surrounded by animals, His impoverished parents, and lowly shepherds. Yet, the importance of this event, the fact that this newborn Babe is the King, is not lost. The heavens touch Him with a star, the cherubim and seraphim singing Him a hymn of glory, and the Magi adore Him. The significance of the Christ Child's humble yet glorious birth continue throughout His life. His fame does not come from worldly possessions or powerful armies, as many Hebrews expected of their Savior. It comes through the truth, humility, suffering and charity He incarnates, as the Old Testament prophets predicted.

This Babe would open the eyes of the blind and loose the chains of the imprisoned. He would not do this by physical strength or skill, but by His love and complete surrender to the will of His Father. Christ surrendered even His life to the Father's will. This Baby, Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, the Light and the map to return all of us to the Kingdom of the Father. For all who accept Him the bonds of sin are broken.

Dr. George Fatula

Suggested Scripture Reading: Is 42:1-9; Mat 12:15-21

Once in the Valley of the Cells, the feast being celebrated, the brethren were eating together in the place of the assembly. And there was a certain brother present, who said to the one waiting on table: “I do not eat any cooked food, just a little bread and salt.” And the one waiting on table called another brother in the presence of the whole assembly, saying “that brother does not eat cooked food. Just bring him some dried bread and salt.” One of the elders got up and said to the brother who wanted only bread and salt: “it would have been better had you eaten meat alone in your cell today, then to let this thing be heard in the presence of so many brethren.”
A brother in Scete happen to commit a fault, and the elders assembled, and sent for Abbott Moses to join them. He, however, did not want to come. The priest sent a message saying: “come, the community of the brethren is waiting for you.” So he arose and started off. In taking with him a very old basket full of holes, he filled it with sand, and carried it behind him. The elders came out to meet him, and said: “what is this, Father?” The elder replied: “my sins are running behind me, and I do not see them, and today I come to judge the sins of another!” They, hearing this, said nothing to the brother but pardoned him.
One of the fathers told the story of a certain elder who was in his cell busily at work and wearing a hair shirt when the Abbot Ammonas came to him. When Abbott Ammonas saw him wearing a hair shirt he said: “that thing won’t do you a bit of good.” The elder said: “three thoughts are troubling me. The first impels me to withdraw somewhere into the wilderness. The second, to seek a foreign land where no one knows me. The third, to wall myself into the cell and see no one indeed only every second day.” Abbot Ammonas Said to him: “none of these three will do you a bit of good. But rather sit in your cell, and eat a little every day, and have always in your heart the words which are read in the Gospel and were said by the Publican, “Lord have mercy on me a center.” And thus you will be saved.”

Suggested Scripture readings: Prv 11:2; Mt 6:1-6

Reflection by St John Chyrsostom
There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to serve others.… You cannot plead poverty here; the widow putting in her two small coins will be your accuser. Peter said, "Silver and gold I have not." Paul was so poor that he was often hungry and went without necessary food.
You cannot plead humble birth, for they were humbly born, of humble stock. You cannot offer the excuse of lack of education, for they were uneducated. You cannot plead ill-health, for Timothy also had poor health, with frequent illness.
Each one can help his neighbor if only he is willing to do what is in his power. Look at the trees that do not bear fruit… And any utility they have is small. Such are those men who think only of their own concerns. In fact, they are worse: the trees are at least useful for building or for protection, whereas the selfish are fit for punishment. Such were the foolish virgins who were chased, comely and self-controlled, but they did nothing for anyone. So they were consumed in the fire. Such are those men who refused to give food to Christ.
Notice that none of them is accused of personal sins. They are not accused of committing fornication or perjury or any such sin at all: only of not helping anybody else. The man who buried the talent was like this. His life was blameless, but he was of no service to others.
How can such a person be a Christian? Tell me, if yeast did not make the whole mass like itself, is it really yeast? Again, if perfume failed to pervade all around it with its fragrance, would you call it perfume?
Do not say: it is impossible for me to influence others. If you are a Christian, it is impossible for this not to happen. Things found in nature cannot be denied; so here, for it is a question of the nature of the Christian.
Do not insult God. If you say that the sun cannot shine, you have insulted Him. If you say that a Christian cannot help others, you have insulted God and called Him a liar. It is easier for the sun not to give warmth or shine then for a Christian not to shed light. It is easier for light to be darkness then for this to happen.
Do not say that it is impossible. The opposite is impossible. Do not insult God. If we put our affairs in order, these things will certainly come to be, and will follow the natural consequence. The light of a Christian cannot escape notice. So bright a lamp cannot be hidden.

Suggested Scripture Reading: Ps 2; Lk 10:19-22

This may be a wicked age, but your lives should redeem it… So that always and everywhere you are giving thanks to God. Ephraim 5:16,20

In his letter to the Church at Ephesus, St. Paul gives us a good prescription for living our lives as Christians. Our first example is Christ, Who offered Himself as a sacrifice to God. Then we were told to live so that we can be examples to the world.

Our lives have to shine with the light that is different – irradiance that sets us apart as children of the Light. We are reminded not to fall into the shadows of impurity but to strive to live in the light so that its illumination will find no flaw in our Christian behavior.

Finally, we are reminded to raise our voices and Thanksgiving and to go on singing to the Lord in our hearts. Our whole life can be a song – a perfect melody in praise and thanksgiving to God. The more we keep the melody in mind and praise and practice it, the less likely we are to strike the wrong note (of sin) which spoil our harmony with God. Our goal should be to refine and perfect that melody until our life is a constant alleluia of praise to God in thanksgiving for His blessings.
Loretta Nemeth

Suggested Scripture Readings: Ps 40; Eph 5:1-20

From the First Letter of Clement
With prayers and supplications, let us earnestly entreat the Creator of the universe to preserve the whole and entire designated number of the elect throughout the entire world, for the sake of His beloved Child, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through Him we have been called from darkness to light, from ignorance to the knowledge of the glory of His Name.

Thus, we are able, also, to hope in Your Name, from which every creature has its origin.
You have opened the eyes of our hearts, so that we may know you, Who alone are the Most High in the heights of heaven, the Holy One among the saints.
You confounded the arrogance of the haughty; bring to nothing the schemes of nations; rise up the lowly and humble the proud; enrich and impoverish; take life away and bestow it.
You are the sole benefactor of the human mind and the God of all flesh.
You are the helper of all who are in danger and the Savior of the hopeless.
You are the creator and the Bishop of all spirits.
You multiplied the nations of the earth and from among them you have chosen, through Jesus Christ Your beloved Child, those who love You.
Through this same Lord You have instructed, sanctified and honored us.

We beseech You then, Master, to be our helper and our protector. Save us who are in tribulation, uplift all who have fallen, be near to those in need; heal the sick, beat back those who will be wandered far from Your flock; feed the hungry, liberate those who have been taken captive from our midst. Strengthen the weak, confirm the cowardly. Let all nations know that You are the only God, that Jesus Christ is Your Child, and that "we are Your people and the sheep of Your flock."

Suggested Scripture Readings: Tobit 13:5-8; Ephraim 1:3-14

God spoke to Abraham and made this covenant with him: “to your descendents I give this land, from the wadi of Egypt to the great river… You are to become the father of a host of nations. (Gn15:18-21;17.4). The mark of the covenant between God and Abraham was circumcision.

Abraham’s problem was that he had no son by his wife Sarah to whom to pass on the covenant. Nor was this unlikely four, “can a child be born to a man who is 100 years old “or can Sarah give birth at 90?” (Gn 17:17).

This reasoning aside, Abraham’s greatest virtue was his faith in the God Who spoke to him. In Haran, Abraham (then Abram) received this message from God, “go forth from the land of your kinfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.”… [And] Abra m went as the Lord directed him.” (Gn 21:1) Abraham’s faith in God certainly was strengthened with the arrival of Isaac.

By the time God told Abraham, “take your son Isaac… Go to the land of Moriah… Offer him up as a Holocaust on a height that I will point out to you,” his faith in God was one of total and unquestioning obedience. Abraham tied up his son, put him on top of the altar of sacrifice and reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son and would have gone through with the sacrifice had not the Lord’s messenger stopped him.

There are parallels between this story and the life of Jesus Christ. Both are the only sons of their fathers. Both are elected for sacrifice. Isaac carried the wood of his Holocaust on his shoulders. Christ carried the Cross on which He was to be crucified on His. Both son submitted willingly to death. There is no hint of any protest by Isaac. Christ’s prayer was “… Let it be done as you would have it, not I. “ (MT 26:39) There was only one major difference: Isaac was spared death, Christ was not.

Abraham believed in God. He set aside doubts about moving from Haran. His faith was greater than his reasoning with respect to the birth of Isaac. He did not hesitate to obey God when God asked him for his only son. Abraham triumphed because of his faith. Just as God promised, “I will make your name great, so will you be a blessing,” so it is. (Gn 12:2)

Our faith is tested as well. Our crosses can become so burdensome that we wonder if there is a God. Trials may come to us with a frequency which can cause us to cry and agony, (Why?) In such times we need to recall the examples of Abraham. Then we need faith the size of a mustard seed.

Rev Msgr. Edward V. Rosack

Suggested Scripture readings: Gn 22; Mt 17:1-13

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Zech 9: 9-10

The preparation periods for the great festivals of the liturgical year are times of renewal. We are called to realign our vision and our priorities so that we might live according to the mind of Christ. Only when we are seeking to live in union and harmony with Christ can we clearly discern His presence among us. Only in this way can the people of God hope to have a positive influence on culture instead of simply following the dictates of the culture.

Today's reading from the prophet Zechariah tells us another story. It presents us with the solemn entrance of a king. It is not so much a story of humility and lowliness as it is a story of peace. For the King comes as a just and saving leader, not a conquering warrior. He enters riding on a donkey, not on a horse. In biblical times, the horse and chariot were used in times of war. The new king will banish the chariot and the horse; he will wipe away the warrior's bow. Then he will enter writing upon an ass, the symbol of a peaceful and friendly entrance.

When the Lord Jesus was born the angels proclaimed "glory to God in peace to His people on earth." Jesus comes as the Prince of Peace. as we prepare to celebrate His presence in our world let us look at the horses, chariots and bows of our lives, our weapons of war. Let us lay down our weapons of anger, revenge, and any sort of violence that we find within us. As the cave and manger prepare a place for Him, as the shepherds and magi watch for Him, let us also prepare a place within our hearts so that the peace of our Lord may take flesh within us and be manifest to the world around us.

Rev. John Petro

Suggested Scripture Readings: Zech 9:9-17; Mt 21:1-11

I always mention you in my prayers and thank God for you, because I hear of the love and the faith which you have for the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. I pray that this faith will give rise to a sense of fellowship that will show you all the good things that we are able to do for Christ. I am so delighted, and comforted, to know of your love; they tell me, brother, how you have put a new heart into the Saints.

Now although in Christ I can have no diffidence about telling you to do whatever is your duty, I am appealing to your love instead, reminding you that this is Paul writing, an old man now and, what is more, still a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I became while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus. He was of no use to you before, that he will be useful to you now, as he has been to me. I am sending him back to you, and with him-I could say-a part of my own self. I should have liked to keep him with me; he could have been a substitute for you, to help me while I am in the chains that the Good News has brought me. However, I did not want to do anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness, which should be spontaneous. I know that you have been deprived of one Onesimus for a time, but it was only so that you could have him back forever, not as a slave anymore, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord. So if all that we have in common means anything to you, welcome him as you would welcome me; but if he has wronged you in any way or a lose you anything, then let me pay for it. I am writing this in my own handwriting: I, Paul, shall pay it back-I will not add any mention of your own debt to me, which is yourself. Well then, brother, I am counting on you, in the Lord; put a new heart into me, in Christ. I am writing with complete confidence in your compliance, sure that you will do even more than I ask….

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Throughout the course of the Philippian Fast, it is fitting that many of our thoughts rest with Mary who, because of the Life within her, prepares herself while she waits for the coming of the Lord. We unite ourselves with her in anticipation because we too are Godbearers. Just as the Child within her womb develops and matures, so the God born of us is formed in nurtured in our hearts. Early in the Fast, we remember Mary's presentation in the Temple, an event which promotes us to put on the mind and heart of Mary during the season.

We learn from tradition that the parents of Mary, Joachim and the long barren Anne, take her to the Temple in fulfillment of their vow to offer their child to the service of God. Mary is placed under the care of the high priest Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, and remains there until her marriage to Joseph. It is here in the Temple that Mary receives her religious training. She is "reared like a dove" and "nourished from the hands of an angel" and grows in holiness and inner beauty. By living apart from the world Mary, the created, is prepared to become the Mother of the Creator.

In the poetic hymns and prayers of this day, Mary is frequently exalted as the new Temple. Today is a coming together of two temples: the living One and the one made of stone. The Temple of Jerusalem was the holiest of places, the place where God dwelt. Now it is visited by a holier temple, the one whose body will become the divine dwelling place of the God-Man Jesus Christ. The Ark which contained the Law of Moses is now superseded by the new Ark who contains God the Word. Mary is now the bright cloud filling the Temple with the Lords Glory. The Temple of this Holy City is no longer the perfect offering to God; it is Mary who is presented as the most holy and most perfect Temple.

Our liturgical celebrations of Mary's entrance into the Temple is a way of the involving ourselves in the mystery of the Feast in finding the meaning of our own lives in the Most Holy Trinity. Let us think of our hearts as the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. How do we prepare ourselves to become the dwelling place of God? Is it by allowing our hearts to be caught up in consumerism and the external preparation of the season? Do we focus on what needs to take place interiorly? We must be filled with the Glory of the Lord, just as the Temple was filled by the bright cloud. Today, we enter the Temple with Mary, being mindful that we do not go into the Temple alone. We bring with us the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, the abused and the abuser, the believer and a nonbeliever. Let us enter the Holy of Holies and open our hearts to our brothers and sisters and to the One Who comes to dwell within us.

Sr Teresa Sekel O.S.B.M

Suggested Scripture Readings: Heb 9:1-7; Lk 10:38-42; 11:27-28

The Lord said, “I have witnessed the affliction of My people in Egypt, and have heard their cry of complaint, against their slave drivers. I have come to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians, into a land flowing with milk and honey.” Ex 3:7-9

In this story God is showing us His love for His Chosen People and Who are in the foreign and pagan land of Egypt. They have slave drivers over them who makes the Hebrews work hard each day. The Hebrews are oppressed and so they cry to God for a deliverer. Remembering the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God raises up Moses.

From his birth God’s favor rests upon Moses. God calls him one day from the burning bush. God speaks to Moses and tells him to tell Pharaoh to “let my people go.” So Moses has a difficult and challenging task ahead of him.

Moses is to lead God’s people out of slavery in Egypt and to become the mediator between God and Israel. He leads people out of bondage and gives them the 10 Commandments which establishes a new relationship between God and humanity. Moses is both a type of the Messiah Who is to come and a prophet who heralds the Messiah’s coming. “A prophet like me will the Lord your God raise up from among your own kinsmen, to Him you shall listen.” The One to Whom we shall listen is the Person of Jesus Christ.

Because of the fall of Adam and Eve we are all bound by sin. Like the Hebrew people under Pharaoh, we are slaves in a foreign land ruled by sin. And like the Hebrews each liturgical year we are given the opportunity to welcome the New Moses, the new Deliverer, Jesus Christ, into the Bethlehem of our hearts. When Jesus comes into our hearts He will lead us to the spiritual “land of milk and honey, and do away with sin,” for “where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more.”

Thanks be to God, our Deliverer has come and lives in our midst! Though we are not exempt from sickness, misfortune and the like, each of us is called to live as an image and likeness of the All holy Trinity. To live the Divine life which is our calling we must, like Israel of old, remember to call upon the Lord in season and out of season.
Sr. Sylvestra O.S.B.M

Suggested Scripture readings: Dt 18:9-23; Jn 1:1-18

Power. All of today’s readings tell of the power of our God to restore His people and to bring new life.

Sin. Many of the Scripture stories tell us of ways that we abuse, undo, and ignore God’s power in their lives.

Empowering, is what our God is and intended all along to be. The One who shows Himself as a servant can do so because He lives the dynamics of power!

The Israelites understood all this… Though at times they lost sight of its truth. The Israelites who were led with the cloud by day and fire by night still doubted! The Israelites who preached the Promised Land still complained! the Israelites who were assured of their return from exile by the prophets still chose to spare… Though God fulfilled beyond belief every promise He made to them.

God’s desire was to go so much further… He wanted to empower us through His personal presence with each of us. In the Incarnation He creates the way. Jesus becomes the physical expression of God the Father. In His living and in His dying and rising He gives over to us the Holy Spirit so that we too can live in God’s power.

God spirit in us is an energy, the power that impels us to high and noble things. This power within us enables us to break with all that is crippling and defeating in our lives. The Holy Spirit enables us to live as free people who are not afraid to live in love and die for Christ. It is this great discovery that undergirds a vital Christian life. If we clarify this discovery it can become the deep center of our lives, the ground on which we stand, the laughter that cannot be stilled.

The presence of God is also a continuous promise of fulfillment. Jesus is “the spring of living water.” And the Lord promises that one who drinks from that spring will not thirst again. Do we believe this? Do we drink daily from this Spring? Or do we still choose to suffer thirst?

The Holy Spirit is the memory of our hearts and its actions is one of enticing our hearts to know the “length and breath, the height and depth of Christ’s love…,” Of God’s love for us. When we know the goodness He has created us to be, we can see Him in that face we see in the mirror each morning, and the people we meet at breakfast, in the voice that speaks at the door or on the telephone. And seeing Him in these people we will love with a love that empowers and frees and heals.

Sr. Barbara Jean Mihalchick O.S.B.M.

Suggested readings: Gen 49:9-11; Obadiah 17-21; Rev 5:13-16

In defense of the Faith

For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life. This doctrine of theirs has not been discovered by the ingenuity or deep thought of inquisitive men, nor do they put forward a merely human teaching, as some people do. Yet, although they live in Greek and barbarian cities alike, as each man’s lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the country in the clothing in the food and other matters of daily living, at the same time they give proof of the remarkable and admittedly extraordinary constitution of their own Commonwealth. They live as aliens in their own countries. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and every Fatherland is a foreign land. They married, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offsprings. They share their board with each other, but not their marriage bed. It is true that they are “in the flesh,” but they do not live according “to the flesh.” They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in the heavens. They obeyed the established laws, but in their own lives they go beyond what the law requires. They love all men, and by all men are persecuted. They are unknown, and still condemned; they are put to death, and yet they are brought back to life. They are poor, and yet they make many rich; they are completely destitute, and yet they enjoy complete abundance. They are dishonored, and in their very dishonor are glorified; they are defamed, and are vindicated. They are reviled, and yet they bless; and when they are affronted, they shall pay due respect. When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; undergoing punishment, they rejoice because they are brought to life. They are treated by the Jews as foreigners and enemies, and they are hunted down by the Greeks; and all the time those who hate them find it impossible to justify their entity.

To put it simply: what the soul is in all the body, the Christian is in the world. The soul is dispersed throughout all members of the body, and dwells in the body, but does not belong to the body, and Christians dwell in the world, but do not belong to the world.

Plato and Roman, Martyrs

Suggested Scripture readings: 1 For 1:17-2:1-6; Mt 5:13-16

Throughout history in our daily lives, we see how some little, seemingly insignificant event has an impact the size of which we could hardly have imagined. The man we know as St. Gregory the wonderworker is an excellent example of this.

Named Theodore at birth (C. 200 A.D.), he came to be called Gregory a name meaning “the watchmen.” He became a Christian and a bishop of the still illegal church and made many converts. Among them was a woman whose grandchildren would include St. Basil the great and his brother St. Gregory of Nyssa. Through the writings of these men, and especially Gregory of Nyssa, a poet and probably the greatest mistake of his era, was fascinated with Gregory the Wonderworker and the effect he had on his grandmother. The first watchman had spotted an opportunity and seized it. As a result the whole church was enriched with the array of talents and holiness of the Cappadocian Fathers.

This whole dynamic repeats itself time and time again in the ebb and flow of salvation history. For example, the ancient patriarch Joseph seizes the angel and wrestles a blessing out of him. This leads to the formation of Israel: the Chosen People, the holy nation. From this community would rise the Savior of the whole world.

As we begin this journey into the Ministry of the Birth and Baptism of Jesus, we explore all those little incidents which providentially pave the way for His Coming. As we look at those who had a role in His adventure, people like Mary his mother, or John the Baptist his cousin, let us remember that the way in which we live profoundly altered the future. The manner in which we live today can have such effects that a future generation might well look back at us and say that we were “the wonderworkers.”

Rev. George Appleyard

Suggested Scripture readings: Gn 32:23-31; Mt 10:1, 5-8

...We say: “Hallowed be Thy name,” not that we want God to be made holy by our prayers, but because we seek from the Lord that His name may be made holy in us. Indeed, by whom could God be made holy, when it is He that sanctifies? But because He Himself said, “be holy, as I too am holy,” we ask and seek that very thing, so that we who have been made holy in baptism may persevere in what we have begun to be. For this do we pray daily. We have a daily need of being made holy, so that we who sin daily may be cleansed again of our sins by continual sanctification….The Apostle says that we have been made holy in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

We pray that this sanctification may abide in us,… And we make this petition in our constant prayers, we ask it day and night, so that the sanctification in the vivification which is received from the grace of God made, by His protection, be preserved.

… We continue and say: “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” not as if praying that God may do as He wills, but that we may be able to do what God wills; for who could withstand God and prevent His doing what He wills! But since the devil withstands us, and would prevent our thoughts and deeds from being devoted in all things to obedience to God, we pray and petition that God’s will be done in us. And in order that it might be done in us we have need of God’s will, that is, of His help and protection, since no one is strong by his own powers, but is safe only by the kindness and mercy of God.

… As the prayer continues, we ask and say, “give us this day our daily bread.”… And we ask that this bread be given daily, so that we who are in Christ and daily receive the Eucharist as the food of salvation, may not, by falling into some more grievous sin and then abstaining from communicating, be withheld from the heavenly Bread, and be separated from Christ’s body…… He Himself Warns us, saying, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you.” Therefore do we ask that our Bread, which is Christ, be given to us daily, so that we who abide and live in Christ may not withdraw from His sanctification and from His Body.
St Cyprian of Carthage

Suggested Scripture Readings: Is 6:1-10; Matt 5:7-15

When we present our petitions before you, we rely not on our just deeds, but on your great mercy.  Dn 9:18

In today’s reading the prophet Daniel is preparing himself for revelation. He begins his prayer by interceding on behalf of Jerusalem, admitting her sinfulness and asking pardon. Gabriel then appears to Daniel in a vision.

Daniel’s posture is one of humility and receptivity. He has fasted, prayed and earnestly pleads to God on behalf of Jerusalem. Daniel asked God not to judge a Jerusalem sinful deeds but rather show His great mercy. Then, in openness, Daniel awaits the vision.

This is the great and holy time of fast before the feast of Christmas. Our posture during this time of preparation for the celebration of God with us Incarnate in Jesus Christ must be like Daniels. In humility we know that in our sinfulness we cannot be worthy of God’s precious gift to us, His.    In receptivity we stand in openness to allow the divine gift to become Incarnate in each of us. This humility and receptivity that allows us to await the vision.  This vision is the revelation of the Incarnate Christ in us and around us, in all who meet us and touch our lives.  The reality is the mystery of the Incarnation today.

The acceptance of the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in our lives today is essential to our faith. But this acceptance must be ongoing and dynamic. Jesus Christ was not simply born for our sakes once and for all, at a single moment in history. Rather, He desires to be born anew each day in our hearts. Through the faithful living out of our belief in Christ, we Incarnate this mystery continuously throughout our lives. Our lives must reflect the Incarnation, but this can only be done if we, like Daniel, humbly and receptively present our petitions to the Lord” rely not on our just deeds, but on God’s great mercy.”

Sr. Susan Sisko O.S.B.M

Suggested Scripture readings:   Dan 9:1-19; 1 Tm 1:8-14