tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-218415922024-03-13T04:13:22.123-04:00Conversi ad DominumThe ancient call to prayer, <i>Conversi ad Dominum</i> (Turn to the Lord).Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.comBlogger381125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-82583201646375298122020-04-21T15:07:00.000-04:002020-04-21T15:07:25.349-04:00Gov. Cuomo’s Theological Confusion<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Abridged from “<a href="https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/article/governor-cuomo-and-gods-noncompetitive-transcendence/27149/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_term=fb-wof&utm_content=governor-cuomo-and-gods-noncompetitive-transcendence&utm_campaign=blog-post&fbclid=IwAR39h280W6ORvbsGxI5TyWK9kruHF366z7KR_C1pSEpBBUDMM2Q2JqeN2uA">Governor
Cuomo and God’s Noncompetitive Transcendence</a>”</div>
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By Bishop Robert Barron</div>
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<br /></div>
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Last week, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, made a
rather interesting theological observation. Commenting on the progress that his
state has made in fighting the coronavirus, and praising the concrete efforts
of medical personnel and ordinary citizens, he said, “The number is down
because we brought the number down. God did not do that. Faith did not do
that.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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The condition for the possibility of the governor’s
declaration is the assumption that God is one competitive cause among many, one
actor jostling for position and time upon the stage with a coterie of other
actors. On this reading, God does certain things—usually of a rather spectacular
nature—and creaturely causes do other things, usually more mundane.</div>
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<br /></div>
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[E]verything is, at once, natural and supernatural—precisely
because God’s causality is operating noncompetitively, on a qualitatively
different level than creaturely causality. If you want a one-liner summary of
this distinctively biblical perspective, you could not do better than this,
from the prophet Isaiah: “O Lord, it is you who have accomplished all that we
have done” (Isa. 26:12).</div>
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<br /></div>
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God is not the supreme being (<em><span style="font-family: "Constantia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">ens summum</span></em> in his Latin), but rather <em><span style="font-family: "Constantia",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">ipsum esse subsistens</span></em>, which means
“the sheer act of to be itself.” (St Thomas Aquinas) … Therefore, God does not
compete for space, so to speak, on the same ontological grid as creatures; a
zero-sum game does not obtain in regard to God’s activity and creaturely
activity—the more we ascribe to one, the less we have to ascribe to the other.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Allow me to ground this rather abstract rhetoric with a very
homely example. If one were to ask what is necessary to make a bicycle, the
response would be something like this: “tires, brake pads, a chain, a metal
frame, the skill of the builder, perhaps a schematic to guide the building
process, etc.” No one would ever be tempted to respond as follows:
“tires, brake pads, a chain, God, a metal frame, the skill of the builder,
etc.” And yet, a smart religious person, upon finishing the project of
constructing that bike, would quite legitimately say, “Thank God!” The prayer
would be a humble acknowledgement, not that God in a fussily invasive way
interfered with the building process, but that God is responsible for the
entire nexus of causes and behaviors that made up the process. The upshot is
that the two dimensions of causality—one finite and the other
transcendent—operate simultaneously and noncompetitively: “You have accomplished
all that we have done.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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All of which brings me back to Governor Cuomo. To claim that
“God did not do that” because we did it is simply a category mistake. What
brought the coronavirus numbers down? It is perfectly accurate to say,
“The skill of doctors and nurses, the availability of hospital beds, the
willingness of so many to shelter in place, etc.” But it is also perfectly
valid to say that God brought those numbers down… </div>
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[Consider] the psychological motivation of those dedicated
physicians and nurses. Why ultimately were they willing to do what they did? I
would be willing to bet a large percentage of them would say that it was a
desire to serve others and to be pleasing to God.</div>
Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-22777257311468520852020-01-18T15:10:00.001-05:002020-01-18T15:10:43.651-05:00Why Not Use Ancient Rites?<i>It's been more than 2 years since I last posted. So I'll try to revive things here with this post.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
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Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As the Apostles and
their successors evangelized throughout the world (both East and West, and
beyond these boundaries of the Roman Empire), various regional liturgies were
used in the earliest times. These liturgies were "cultural
expressions" of the faith. This means that the faith itself and the key
outline of the Mass and Divine Office were unchanged, but the musical tones
(cadence, tonal system) and means of rhetoric (circular or linear; analogical
or typological or otherwise) and ceremonies (usually based on local court
customs) were employed. This was noticed primarily, then, in the prayers and
chants, as well as the 'flow' of the liturgical services.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKE7E7YEn4AqIhlwJ309cc-QkZNpY0cWDA10baoIBqc4RxQvYJFKI2VMOz0V2nnbX7XSgdg7f3bHCunBBDYBM61Ohckt0GCnkast1ioDr0rSxcT4R8Az1PIBjB-_THdxBnQ2d0uA/s1600/Liturgical+Genealogy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="917" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKE7E7YEn4AqIhlwJ309cc-QkZNpY0cWDA10baoIBqc4RxQvYJFKI2VMOz0V2nnbX7XSgdg7f3bHCunBBDYBM61Ohckt0GCnkast1ioDr0rSxcT4R8Az1PIBjB-_THdxBnQ2d0uA/s400/Liturgical+Genealogy.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the Western part
of the Roman Empire (and later extending into the remainder of Europe), all of
these liturgies were built, in some way, on the Roman Rite (i.e., the rites
used in the Church of Rome) with some influences (in a few scattered instances)
from Eastern customs. Over time, in both East and West, for various reasons
usually related to the dominance of a capital city or the need for more uniform
practices, these various liturgies collapsed into four major rites, centered
around the major regions of Christianity: The Antiochian Rite; the Alexandrian
Rite; the Roman Rite; the Carthaginian Rite; and the Edessan Rite. (See the
chart below.) In turn, these rites (among the canonical Orthodox and Roman
Catholic churches) collapsed, again for various reasons usually having to do
with desire uniformity, into two: the Roman Rite (which was influenced by the
Gallican Rite and which, in turn, influenced the still extant Ambrosian and
Mozarabic Rites as well as the rites of a few religious orders); and the
Constantinopolitan Rite (which was heavily influenced by the Antiochian Rite,
but is not at all identical with it; and which influenced all the other
Byzantine Rites.) In Europe, the collapsing into the Roman Rite was chiefly
completed by 600 AD (although it underwent a few minor changes in the 9th
century) and has remained in tact (excluding the protestant changes in England,
etc., and the revolutionary change in Rome in 1970). In Asia and Eastern
Europe, the collapsing into the Constantinopolitan/Byzantine Rite was not
completed until the 13th century and has remained in tact (although different
minor 'uses' appear in Russia and elsewhere).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Given this
background, it is perhaps clear that the 'pre-schism' Western Rite is the Roman
Rite which was used (most often in Latin) from 600 AD until 1970 AD in the
Church of Rome; and has been used in the Orthodox Church since the 1880s. To
use 'ancient Western liturgies' offers an historical, liturgical, and
theological challenge. The historical challenge is that the documentation for
exactly how those Rites were used (the ceremonies and chants, as well as the texts)
is spotty at best; certainly it is not in tact fully. Furthermore, the best of
these rites have already been folded into the Roman Rite, and so teasing them
out may leave lacunae. The liturgical challenge is that 're-creating' a Rite
that hasn't been used for at least 1000-1400 years follows the Protestant model
that the Rites are not received nor the work of the Holy Spirit, but devised by
humans and therefore open to 'liturgical archeology' (the exact same argument
that lies behind the Novus Ordo of the Roman Church). The theological challenge
is centered around this question: what is objectionable now to the Roman Rite
that was never objectionable before the so-called 'Great Schism.' (Remember,
the date for the Great Schism is arbitrarily chosen by post-reformation
European scholars, mainly Anglican [i.e., Protestant]). Some will answer that
question by presuming that the liturgy carries the seed for whatever heresies
might be extant in the Church of Rome; a dubious premise, at best.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Given this history
with the attendant challenges, when the Churches of Russia, Constantinople,
Antioch, Romania, Serbia, and Alexandria issued decrees concerning the use of
the liturgical tradition of the Western liturgy in their churches, they
collectively approved the continued use of the Roman Rite (with the use of the
Benedictine Breviary) as it was practiced prior to the 'Great Schism'--which is
no different (except in a few feasts) than what was done in the Church of Rome
and the Benedictine monasteries until 1970.</span></div>
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<i><br /></i>Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-41761383220739545042017-10-31T17:24:00.003-04:002017-10-31T18:55:54.416-04:00The Irony of the ReformationEver since, as an 18 year old college freshman, I first read Roland Bainton’s biography of Martin
Luther (<a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Here-Stand-Life-Martin-Luther/dp/1426754434?sa-no-redirect=1" target="_blank">Here I Stand</a>), I’ve been struck by the irony of how October 31, 1517
came to be. The standard tale, which is hardly disputed, is that Luther was
exercised over the abuse of one of the holy sacraments; namely, the Sacrament
of Penance (Private Confession). He was exercised, not because he thought that
sacrament was illegitimately termed a sacrament, or that it imposed the clergy
between God and the person. Luther never advocated the abolition of Private
Confession. Rather, Luther was exercised because the sale of indulgences was
pastorally destructive. In other words, it destroyed the pastoral means of
curing the soul. And it did so by encouraging the average person to think that,
with one piece of paper, he no longer needed to go to confession.<br />
<br />
This abuse, this despising of the sacrament, which undermined the best of pastoral care—this is what caused Luther to
re-examine Rome’s understanding of forgiveness. Justification was the
theological term. But, as at least one Lutheran scholar has pointed out, the abstract notion of justification takes on concrete form when the penitent sinner, after confessing
before a faithful witness, hears, outside of himself, God’s forgiveness by one
authorized (ordained) to speak it.<br />
<br />
What is ironic is that a protest against the despising of a
sacrament very quickly morphed into a rebellion against most (if not all) of the
sacraments, as well as against the very means that Christ set up to administer
justification individually to the repentant sinner. It’s as if the patients,
upon hearing that the medicine was being withheld, then determined—with all
manner of support—to overturn the entire medical profession and, in fact, all
medical science in order to establish their own self-serving cures.<br />
<br />
Now, that might seem a bit harsh, but that’s not my intent.
My intent is merely to point out, in stark terms, how awry went Luther’s
academic propositions for (in his mind in 1517) well-meaning debate. And also
this: to remind the reader that Luther’s initial concern—that Private
Confession was threatened—led to a large group of Christians who continue the
same vehement insistence as the indulgence-bearing hedonists that Luther
wanted to heal. For both the by-gone indulgence wavers and today’s Protestants
have in common the desire not merely to avoid, but to deride the precious and
living-renewing Sacrament of Penance. Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-81026684856440066072017-09-21T14:52:00.001-04:002017-09-21T19:04:25.953-04:00The Mass is Not Ours but For Us<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
During the Mass, we say (or sing) together these words: “Who for us men
and for our salvation, came down from heaven.” Those words are, of course, from
the Nicene Creed—the statement that summarizes the basics of the Orthodox
Faith.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
For now, let’s focus on the word “for.” As in, “<u>for</u> us men” and “<u>for</u>
our salvation.” In the context of the creed, that word “for” means “on behalf
of” and “for the sake of.” It’s a way of saying that Our Lord Jesus accomplished
our salvation because we could not; and that what He did He offered to His Father
on our behalf.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
We summarize that concept using the word “sacrifice.” A sacrifice is
something we do for, or on behalf of, or for the sake of, others. We do the work;
they get the benefit. In its purest form, this sacrifice “for” someone else is
unselfish.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
A synonym of the word “sacrifice” is the word “liturgy.” Liturgy is a
work done <i><u>for</u></i> others. For
their sake, on their behalf, and even in their place. That’s how the word was
used in both politics. The ruler is a liturgist because makes decisions “for”
the people. Ideally, he or she is acting on our behalf, for our good. At least,
that is how St Paul sees it when he writes that the Emperor Nero is the
liturgist of God for good. (Rom 13.4)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
The use of the word “liturgy” in ancient worship came from its use in
politics. In the Old Testament, the priest offers prayers and sacrifices to God
<u>for</u> the people. In other words, he takes their offerings into the
temple, and says the prescribed prayers. And the person who offers gets the
benefit from the work the priest does. Hence, it’s a sacrifice—a selfless act
on behalf of another person.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Because of His sacrifice, and because He does it “for us men and for our
salvation,” Jesus is called a liturgist. His sacrifice is our liturgy. Only,
the liturgy Christ offers far exceeds anything done by a politician. For the
Lord’s liturgy, His work for us, is enacted and firmly rooted in better promises
than any politician makes. And Our Lord’s goal is not merely to represent us,
but to present us to the heavenly Father in His kingdom. And to present us, He
must cleanse us, restore us, and renovate us. That is His work for us—His
liturgy. And that work for the people—that liturgy—is what redeems and saves
us. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Yet Our Lord’s work seems so distant—both in time and in our minds. And
so we need to recall it, again and again. And recall, here, is not a memory
thing but a re-enactment thing; in the sense that Christ Jesus enacts once
again, before our hearts and minds, that exact same liturgy or work for us that
brings us salvation. Not that He is repeating what He did; but that He is mystically
transporting back to the original act, back to the sacrifice, back to His work
for us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Because we are weak, and because we are too earthly-bound, Our Lord uses
ministers—liturgists—to do this re-enacting work for His people. As the priest
offers the liturgy, He is presenting once again Christ’s sacrifice before our
spirit’s eyes. The priest is working for us in order to help us see that we
stand, both at the same time, at the foot of Calvary 2000 years ago and in the
timeless Kingdom of Heaven.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Perhaps we could do this work ourselves. But if we did, then it would no
longer be a selfless sacrifice; instead, it would be our work for our own sake.
And then it would no longer be the work <u>for</u> the people, but the work <u>of</u>
the people. And if it’s our work, it no longer needs Christ working “for us men
and for our salvation.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
All of this is to say that, when we are in the Divine Liturgy, when we
assist at the Mass, it is <u>not</u> our work, like paying our tax or obligation to God.
Instead, it is us receiving what the Lord has already accomplished and done for
us; receiving the work He has worked for our benefit. And our “work,” if we
need to call it that, is simply to receive gratefully and in true faith all the
benefits that our great liturgist presents and offers and gives to us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
This reflection is constructed from <a href="http://taylormarshall.com/2017/09/liturgy-not-mean-work-people-liturgical-pelagianism.html" target="_blank">these thoughts</a> </div>
Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-22693048254564119112017-07-21T16:18:00.004-04:002017-07-21T16:18:57.003-04:00The Mass Presents Christ<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]-->As we stand in heaven during the Mass, Christ is in our midst. He is in our midst mentally, as we think about, contemplate, and meditate on His saving work and His sacred gifts. He is in our midst emotionally, as our hearts are uplifted due to His loving-kindness and many mercies which we certainly do not deserve. He is in our midst spiritually, as the Holy Spirit draws us slowly, gently, kindly, into His soothing and invigorating embrace. But most of all, Christ is in our midst physically. He is really present, standing before us not figuratively but literally, not symbolically but actually, not metaphorically but truly.<br /><br />How do we know this? How do we know most anything that really matters, anything that soothes our soul and helps us see beyond this life? Only by faith. Only by faith do we know, and trust, and embrace that Christ is in our midst. Just as, only by faith, do we know and trust and believe that we stand in heaven during the Mass.<br /><br />“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Yet faith, for us, is easily distracted because we tend to get caught up in our own selves and so rely, way too much, on the impermanent things and feelings that we are convinced are so real. What is real is what lives beyond death. And what is real is what gives us a happiness that no heartache or suffering can diminish.<br /><br />As well as being easily distracted, our faith is also weak because faith requires us to see beyond our eyes, to see past our hopes and fears, and even to see more than we can imagine. And so, to help our faith and to lift our hearts into what is truly real, Christ provides us with various means, modes and instruments that speak not just to our eyes but to all our senses, so that we might truly see Him as He stands before us.<br /><br />We tend to think that our most powerful sense is sight. The Lord recognizes this, and so He offers us visual cues of His real and actual presence during the Mass. The most obvious of these is the priest. This is obvious, not because the priest stands up front and leads the liturgy, but because he dresses so differently from the rest of us; so differently, in fact, that the priest is covered, head to toe, with uncommon clothing. It’s as if we don’t want to see him; as if we want his shape and other attributes to fade away; as if his clothing wants to transport us to another time and place; as if we don’t want him there for himself, but instead long for someone else in his place. And that’s precisely why we dress-up the priest. It is so that we remember that Christ is in our midst, when the priest stands before us; and so that we remember that the words he speaks and the prayers he says are not his words but the Lord’s own Word. (By the way, that also explains why the bishop requires the priest to say so few words of his own, and to say instead the Scripturally-soaked words.)<br /><br />Yet, if truth be told, one of our most powerful senses is our sense of smell. Among other things, it governs our reactions, triggers our memories, and directs our taste buds. Using our olfactory organ, Christ shows us that He is truly present. With the help of the servers, the priest uses the censor to produce, emit, and disperse perfumed fragrance. But not any fragrance; rather, the precise fragrance that was used when Christ was buried, the fragrance that emanated from His resurrected body when He stood in the midst of the Apostles. That cologne from His body as He spoke—that is the same scent we get to smell during the Mass. It announces to us, as it did to Peter and Thomas, that the resurrected Christ is in our midst, bringing not the stench of death but the aroma of life.<br /><br />And how close to us is Christ? Consider what is incensed: the altar (which represents the tomb of Christ); the priest (who operates in the person of Christ); the Gospel (which contains the words of Christ); the faithful (who are the Body of Christ); and the Eucharist (which is Christ Himself). How close is Christ to us? “He is nearer than we believe.” Like the incense, He permeates and saturates and pervades the church and the liturgy.<br /><br />And what ought be our response? To approach Christ Himself as He presents Himself as our means of salvation. For that is why Christ is in our midst—so that we might connect with Him, trust Him, and embrace Him as authentically and truly as He is present for us.Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-13875537496327935972017-06-16T18:00:00.002-04:002017-06-16T18:00:59.812-04:00In the Midst: Holy Orders<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">he Ordination of men as priests
or deacons</span><span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> can occur at any time. In the Western Orthodox
tradition, the Ember Days of Advent, Lent, September—and most especially the
week of Pentecost—are designated for conferring the Sacrament of Holy Orders.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">During these Ember days, the entire
Church joins the candidates in a special fast and penitential Mass on the
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday leading up to the ordination of deacons and
priests during the Saturday Divine Liturgy. (The lesser orders may also be
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa-7MeEKBBMVxhEw8WJ1d_cY_zzlOJQmvn_XWBpiAMpZQPTypfhWsjRUlVWuzKo9_y2mcVzf7ECH2_2MrJT9FddbJsBwAQgVBIFLNnj-9DyOCWpRsUph-_i9wrYD8zn8tIPnd9A/s1600/kavanagh.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqa-7MeEKBBMVxhEw8WJ1d_cY_zzlOJQmvn_XWBpiAMpZQPTypfhWsjRUlVWuzKo9_y2mcVzf7ECH2_2MrJT9FddbJsBwAQgVBIFLNnj-9DyOCWpRsUph-_i9wrYD8zn8tIPnd9A/s1600/kavanagh.jpeg" /></a></div>
conferred at this time.). At this time, the entire community of the faithful
pray for the Spirit’s grace both upon the men who will be ordained, and upon
the whole church so that she may increase and her members may grow in faith and
holiness. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Our Lord’s Church cannot grow in faith
or holiness without His sacred ministers. Their ministry is to deliver His
gifts—the sacred mysteries—which unite us to Christ, seal us with His Spirit,
heal our bodies and forgive our souls, and strengthen our life in and with each
other until we together attain the fullness of the kingdom of heaven. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But there is something more that is
revealed in this Ember Day practice. The whole Christian community fasts and
prays (while only some are being ordained) because this Holy Sacrament—unlike
all the sacred mysteries—centers the Christian parish family. That is the
essence of this sacrament. Fr Alexander Schmemann, of blessed memory, puts it
this way:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If
each man [or woman] is to find in Christ his own life, if Christian engineers
find in the Church what it means to be a Christian engineer, if a Christian
novelist finds in the church the idea of what is Christian art, if a Christian
father and a Christian mother find in the Church the essence of Christian
parenthood, there must be someone in the center of the community who, just as
Christ, has nothing of his own, but in whom and through whom everyone else can
find his way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">That “someone” who stands in the
center of the community is “the one who makes Christ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">present</i>—who ‘represents,’ but in a very real sense, Christ’s care,
Christ’s love, Christ’s teaching.” (Schmemann) To say it simply, the Priest is
the one who re-presents Christ; that is, who repeatedly makes Christ present. And
it is the same with the Deacon: he also presents Christ again and again. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The significant difference between the
priest and deacon is that the priest’s primary focus is making present Christ’s
compassion and mercy for the soul (i.e., through the sacraments and
visitations), while the deacon’s primary emphasis is making present Christ’s
compassion for the body (i.e., through material assistance and prayer). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">These roles are clearly demonstrated
in the Divine Liturgy. The Deacon reads the Gospel of Our Incarnate Lord,
reminding us in every word that God came in our flesh to put an end to our
captivity to ungodly passions not by freeing our souls from our bodies, but by
healing, redeeming, and restoring our bodies as well as our souls; and that this
liberation culminates when, by His Ascension, Our Lord shows that our flesh
will be capable of being raised up to heaven to see the Father with our very
own eyes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In a similar way, the Priest does not
just promise but actually bestows upon us the compassion and mercy of the
Father through the Son in the unity of the Spirit. This peace with God, which
surpasses our understanding, is delivered when the Priest leads the prayers,
and gives the blessing. And most especially, when the Priest handles the Lord’s
very own Body and Blood, and leads us to give thanks by consuming the Holy
Eucharist, then is the Lord’s own divine nature, abundantly and unfathomably, knitted
to our own flesh and coursing through our veins.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In both instances, when the Deacon and
the Priest serve us, the re-present Christ to us, making Him present, standing
in our midst. For they say, “The Lord be with you,” each time before they exercise
their specific ministry. These words mean that the “I AM,” who is always with
us, now, by means of the Deacon and Priest, stands in the midst of the “two or
three” (or more). The faithful acknowledge this whenever they respond, “And
with thy spirit.” For those speak declare that the Holy Spirit, given to the Sacred
Ministers in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, has permitted us to see not them,
but Christ; not their failings and weaknesses, but His strength and undying
kind-heartedness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In practical, every-day terms, the
Sacrament of Holy Orders is exactly that: a re-ordering of the life of the
ordained man. No longer does that man have a “private” or “individual” life. No
longer can he make decisions based solely on what is best for himself, his
health, his prosperity or success, or even his family. And no longer can he set
aside, even when “vacationing” or on his “day-off,” his duty and responsibility
to serve at the altar or pray the prescribed prayers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In a very real sense, then, the
ordained man is “under orders.” In every moment, he must “become all things to all
men.” He must “do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the
household of faith.” For his life is no longer his own, but is offered up as
Christ gave Himself completely as a self-offering for men.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is why Holy Orders is a sacrament
which conveys the grace to bolster and sustain those who are ordained. And
perhaps you see why it is both good and necessary for the whole Church to join
in the fasts and prayers—not only for the men who will be ordained, but even
more so for the priests and deacons who now serve. For by your fasting, you
remember the sacrifice; and by your prayers, you support and encourage them in
being faithful to their orders.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">V. Rev. John W. Fenton</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pastor, St Michael Orthodox Christian Church, Whittier CA</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Assistant to the Vicar General, Western Rite Vicariate</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Constantia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Pentecost Week 2017</span></div>
Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-59483354374113128332017-06-16T15:32:00.000-04:002017-06-17T17:23:05.856-04:00Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy: A Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In his Retractationes (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Retractations-Fathers-Church-Patristic/dp/0813209706" target="_blank">Retractions</a>), St Augustine has demonstrated that one of the marks of humility is the willingness to critically self-evaluate one’s writing and then make needed corrections. In some cases, this may lead to the arduous work of a thorough-going revision.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFhpcWon0ivAy650fpfCnsRONnJLK-3NdpjgFM2uD-2UicVLR0SdBF_Hiav8MZIkcwHmGWUznuQLx2UjggfCulEqwWFoc2SpyhKlxZgZwpncJ-y47N-JPeu0lSo5cb1NE5VivZQ/s1600/damick+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1184" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFhpcWon0ivAy650fpfCnsRONnJLK-3NdpjgFM2uD-2UicVLR0SdBF_Hiav8MZIkcwHmGWUznuQLx2UjggfCulEqwWFoc2SpyhKlxZgZwpncJ-y47N-JPeu0lSo5cb1NE5VivZQ/s320/damick+book.jpg" width="236" /></a></div>
<br />
This Augustinian-like humility is displayed in Fr Andrew Damick’s revised and expanded edition of <a href="http://store.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxy-and-heterodoxy-finding-the-way-to-christ-in-a-complicated-religious-landscape" target="_blank"><i>Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy</i></a>. The revision was necessary not only because the original scope of the book had changed, but also because he realized that the picture he drew of other Christian denominations was unrecognizable to them.<br />
<br />
I was among those underwhelmed with the first edition. The Lutheranism he depicted was too simplistic and flat; and the Roman Catholicism was heavy on tired caricatures.<br />
<br />
St Augustine set out to make corrections because he knew that, over time, his faith had deepened and his charity lengthened. Fr Andrew made his revision because he wanted to avoid the all too easy comparison of misrepresentation with reality, of popular religion with official dogma.<br />
<br />
I am convinced that this edition far exceeds the previous, and accomplishes all that Fr Andrew desired. In fact, it is a book that I recommend to Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, and will incorporate in parish instruction.<br />
<br />
Fr Andrew offers a survey of main ideas rather than an in-depth analysis. His book is not laden with theological jargon, and does not require the reader to unpack heady concepts. His style, instead, is to speak to the Christian who has a fair to good understanding of his faith. He is neither pedantic nor condescending. In fact, he occasionally slips into contemporary or even hip language. This is not distracting but, in its limited use, somewhat charming.<br />
<br />
I recommend this book primarily because it is an easy-to-read and balanced presentation, without falling into a kind of false objectivity where the author pretends not to take sides. Fr Andrew is clear and forthright in taking sides. He is comparing other Christians and non-Christians with Orthodoxy. It is apparent that he wants to be very careful in presenting the teachings of the other faiths. At the same time he is consistent with the Orthodox faith.<br />
<br />
His tone is neither polemical nor condescending, but kind and humble.
“Here are the similarities and differences,” I can hear him say. “And
here is where the Orthodox Church stands. And so now we can begin to
compare apples with apples.”<br />
<br />Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-59094303437117825012017-05-03T11:52:00.000-04:002017-05-03T11:52:10.792-04:00Ascension: Exalting the Human Body<br />
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<span style="font-size: 55.0pt; font-variant: small-caps; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-text-raise: -4.5pt;">I</span></div>
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<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">t is no coincidence</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that the recent decline in the reverence and
respect for the human body has coincided with the equally recent decline in the
celebration of Our Lord’s Ascension. </div>
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Among too many people, these days, the human body is little more than a
casing or covering for the real “you.” This real “you” consists, primarily, of
one’s thoughts, dreams, loves, emotions, thinking, etc.; in other words, the
immaterial aspect of the human. In theology and philosophy, this is what has usually
been ascribed to the soul. </div>
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With this thinking, what is the role of the body—our material aspect? It
becomes something that can be changed, or reconfigured, or ignored, or
discarded. In other words, it has little bearing on the real “you,” and so
hardly matters.</div>
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Historically, those who claimed that body matter doesn’t matter were
commonly known as Gnostics. Most often, they believed that the body was
something like a prison that housed the real “you” until, at death, you could
escape it. And once the soul escaped the body, the body could be burned or
cremated because it wasn’t really part of who you are. </div>
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Among other things, this thinking denigrates God’s original design of
humans—and of all creation. And today’s popular view of the human body does the
same thing: it asserts that the body is incidental and inconsequential to your
humanity.</div>
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By contrast, the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord exalts our human
nature. Our Lord’s ascension declares that the human body is integral and
essential to the real “you.” </div>
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<span style="color: #c0504d; font-family: "Wingdings 2"; font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Wingdings 2"; mso-themecolor: accent2;"><br /></span><span style="color: #c0504d; font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-themecolor: accent2;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">Thou
hast raised our human nature</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">On the
clouds to God’s right hand:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">There
we sit in heav’nly places, There with thee in glory stand.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">Jesus
reigns, adored by angels;</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">Man
with God is on the throne;</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">Mighty
Lord, in thine ascension,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 110%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">We by
faith behold our own.</span></div>
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For why else would Our Lord ascend in His body? If His real “you” was
the soul—or had little to do with the body—then did He bodily ascend merely as
a show? Or so that He could be seen, letting the body then dissolve somewhere
in the atmosphere?
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 4.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
If that is true, then Our Lord’s suffering, His death and resurrection,
and the wounds He insisted on keeping and showing—these also were part of the
show, since they were not vital to who He is.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 4.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
But by ascending, Our Lord shows us two things: that His physical body
is vitally important to His work of redemption; and that our own bodies cannot
be disregarded, or divorced from who we truly are.</div>
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Furthermore, by ascending Our Lord elevates our human nature (body, as
well as soul) far above the dignity of all the creation, above the ranks of
angels, above the exalted status of archangels. For in Christ Himself, Our Lord
seats our human nature (body and soul) at the right hand of God.</div>
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This is possible because, by becoming human, Our Lord interwove our
human nature into such a close union with Himself that He redeemed, healed, and
revitalized our bodies as well as our souls.</div>
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And that is the great revelation of Our Lord’s Ascension. Our bodies
matter. And they are gifts from God—to be received, and rejoiced in, and worn
with the dignity that Our Lord has bestowed when He, for our salvation,
determined to complete His earthly work by exalting the entirety of our human
nature.</div>
Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-10648815805030565902017-04-26T12:11:00.001-04:002017-04-26T12:11:32.755-04:00The Mass Attracts<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Consider this question: how did the church grow so quickly in the
earliest days? Without a doubt, 3000 people were attracted by the miracle of
tongues when St Peter and the other apostles spoke outside the temple on
Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. And while preaching on the
streets continued, it wasn’t street preaching that produced the steady
commitment and the sustained spiritual growth of those 3000 and the
church-family that they formed.</div>
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Neither is growth in God, inner deification, and holiness of life
produced by many different programs, like Bible studies and outreaches and
retreats—and Sunday meals. All of these are important, and certainly enhance
our growth. And they can aid the growth of a parish. But that’s all they can
do—enhance and aid. And they can attract on a superficial level. But none of
the programs we offer actually stimulate or produce true, godly growth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
What, then, actually, really attracts people to our parish? Certainly,
welcoming everyone who comes in the door as if he or she was Christ Himself is
very attractive. Certainly, compassion, genuine kindness, authentic hospitality—these
are even more attractive qualities. And definitely visitors mention most our
warm friendliness as very attractive characteristic of this parish. But, if you
dig a little deeper, that’s not why they keep coming back. And our friendliness
does not produce a longing to return.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
If the Bible is to be believed (and I think it should be!), the most
important tool that God has given us to attract people to the Christian faith
is the one we too often take for granted. The Mass itself attracts. And the
more often we offer Mass—the more often we attend the Mass that is offered—the
more people will be attracted to Our Lord and the service He provides for us in
His Divine Liturgy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Consider, again, this question: how did the nascent church grow so
quickly? Simple: they had Mass every day. Listen to these words carefully: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daily</i> they continued with one accord in
the temple, breaking bread…praising God. And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">daily</i> the Lord added to the church those who were being saved.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Those words occur just moments after the baptism of 3000 is described;
and just seconds after it described their devotion of the Christian Faith.
Their devotion was centered on two things: the apostolic teaching and the
Eucharist. And that devotion—shown in the simplest of ways, by attending
Mass—that is what caused others to want to be there with them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
And don’t think that this is simply an early church phenomenon. That is
how the church has grown in every country where it has been planted. To be
sure, street preaching and miracles attracted the first folks. But the
sustained growth in God—the growth that is truly theosis, the inner
relationship with God, as well as numerical growth—that growth occurred because
Mass was celebrated daily, and people came to the daily celebration.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Just to give one example, which is quite common: when monks first landed
in Ireland, all they did was build a small chapel and begin to pray. Every day.
With Mass. It didn’t take long, and people wanted to know what they were doing,
and why it was so important. And what attracted them to stay, to convert, to
pass along the faith was the daily Mass.</div>
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I don’t think it’s any mistake, then, that this little parish has recently
experienced continued, sustained growth—both inwardly and outwardly—especially
in the last two months. For in the last two months, there has been Mass daily.
Since February 28, there has been only one day when Mass was not served. And
I’m convinced that this faithfulness, this daily offering of Our Lord’s sacrifice—this
is what has attracted people. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
Now, if you ask them, they won’t say that. And if you seek a scientific
answer (like with polling data), you won’t find it. For this is a spiritual
thing—a mystery governed most graciously by the Holy Spirit. And so it takes
spiritual eyes to see it. Just as it also takes spiritual eyes to see that the
growth has not simply been in numbers, but also in a longing, a desire, to live
in God and to live for Him. And all of that, I lay at the doorstep of the
Church: where Our Lord’s Spirit is poured out daily, even if only a handful are
in attendance on any given day. For the Lord is pleased when we give thanks by
offering and receiving the Sacrifice that He desired to offer and give us in
His Son.</div>
Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-71004582077600907692015-02-27T21:38:00.001-05:002015-02-27T21:39:08.961-05:00Panegyric for St Raphael<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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One hundred years ago today, early in the morning, our father among the saints, Raphael
of Brooklyn, fell asleep in the Lord. After several days of suffering without
complaint, this missionary and bishop in the American Church rested in peace. And
in his life, he left an example to those who wish to lead godly lives.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As with every saint, St Raphael of Brooklyn is a model of
piety and holiness. Yet, as with every saint, his holiness takes its own unique
direction. And, as with every saint, we can learn from him what shape our own
holiness may take. In this case, our holiness take this shape: the will to
serve others not by compulsion but freely, not for the praise of men but
eagerly, not to hold something over others but to give without hesitation and
without counting the cost. In short, we learn from St Raphael that we should give
a “<span class="woj">good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over</span>”
always remembering that “with the same measure that you use, it will be
measured back to you.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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This pious man, whose parents were cared for and ministered
to by the holy martyr Joseph of Damascus, was still within his mother’s womb
when they fled Damascus for Beirut while extremist Muslims, with the aid of
Turkish police, were murdering over 2500 Orthodox Christian men and destroying
nearly every Christian church. Despite this tragic beginning, St Raphael grew
to love the Lord and his fellow man deeply and selflessly. He was raised in Lebanon, schooled in Greece, ordained a deacon and priest in Russia, and became
the first Orthodox bishop consecrated on American soil. As such, St Raphael was
well prepared by God to serve the Orthodox Christians in America, most
especially those of Arab descent. While he was in America, St Raphael was
offered several opportunities to minister in his homeland as a bishop. However,
his heart was where he was first placed—here, in the United States.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And this is the first lesson in holiness that this saint can
teach us; namely, that serving others means that we must be willing to
sacrifice our own ambitions—what we want and where we want to be.</div>
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<br /></div>
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How often is it, however, that we would rather be somewhere
else? That we would help others, but only under the conditions we have set? How
often is it that we place self-serving limits on our mercy—and so limit our
holiness?</div>
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<br /></div>
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If we can learn anything from this holy father, let us learn
to be content with where we are now, even as we strangers yearning for our
heavenly home.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Yet we should never crave to attain the kingdom of heaven
simply for our own sake. We should also want to entice, cajole, lead and
encourage as many as we can to realize this same goal. And that also is what St
Raphael can teach us.</div>
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<br /></div>
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During his 20 year ministry, first as an hieromonk and later
as an auxiliary bishop, St Raphael labored tirelessly as a missionary. In the
days when most travel was by bus or train, he traveled at several times across
the country and into Mexico, usually stopping for no more than four days, working
to gather together the Orthodox Christians in various cities. While his eyes
were aimed primarily on immigrant Arabs, his heart was not motivated by
building ethnic communities but rather by building the holy Church of Christ.
So, at nearly every stop, he busied himself with preaching, baptizing, performing
sacramental marriages and serving the Divine Liturgy. His goal was to build a
community centered not around a particular language or culture, but centered
around Christ and his altar. And so he was about building churches into order
to build up the American Church.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How often it is, though, that we see our church not as the
place to gather with Christ and his saints, but instead a place to gather with
friends and family? There is nothing wrong in being with friends and family in
church; however, should not our greater rejoicing be that we are with the
friends and family of God? And should not our goal, then, be to extend that
family by inviting all we know—co-workers, neighbors and unchurched relatives—to
be part of our communion by praying with us and receiving next to us the holy
mysteries?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
St Raphael of Brooklyn had this as his chief desire: to extend
the kingdom of heaven by bringing all he could find into Christ’s holy Church. And
so off he went, here and there, without concern for his own health or welfare,
without complaining about weariness. Eventually, his constant travels would
take its toll and wear him out. But this holy father rejoiced that his labors
would result not the praise of men, but rather rejoicing in heaven with those
whom he had won for Christ!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this way, St Raphael put flesh to St Paul’s admonition to
“do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless
and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast
the word of life.” And why? “So that [with our holy father] we may rejoice in
the day of Christ that [we] have not run in vain or labored in vain.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Running and laboring in vain only happens when we think our
holiness adds up to the number of good things we have done. But if we put away
such foolish mathematical thinking, and instead focus on the well-being of
others—especially the salvation of their souls—then we are truly following in
the footsteps of St Raphael and the other saints.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet, finally, to follow in his footsteps also means to find
joy in nothing other than standing before the Lord. For where else did this
single man find strength? He had no family in this country to comfort or
console him; no wealth to ease his way. Instead, he drew his comfort and riches
and strength from his daily communing with God in prayer. As with all the
saints, one cannot see the story of this holy saint unfold without seeing him
always standing in prayer before the icons—whether in church or at home or on
the road. Feeding on this life in God, our holy father certainly became a
fruitful vine which produced, in the lives of others, great and abundant fruit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let us also, then, be found where St Raphael is now; where
all the saintly men and women are to be found. Let us, with them, “come boldly
to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy Raphael, Good Shepherd and faithful Confessor, pray for
us!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
27 February 2015</div>
Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-22140307739793335222014-06-08T16:32:00.000-04:002014-06-08T16:32:14.942-04:00Pentecost Day homilyAfter considering all the possibilities for happiness, all the goals that humans set to better themselves, all the aspirations and hopes that men dream in order to leave their mark, all the promises that life makes so you can live a fuller life, and all the things that make men's hearts burn with desire—after considering all these things and then dismissing them to be as worthless and pointless as chasing the wind—then wizened old Solomon concludes that there is nothing left but to fear God and keep His commandments.<br />
<br />
To fear God and keep His commandments. In other words, to love God with all that you have and all that you are so that what He wants is all that you want. To live so that what pleases Him is all that matters to you. And to hope for nothing more than to see His beaming fatherly smile—that, says Solomon, is the point of life. The end all and be all. And that is all there is to life.<br />
<br />
What is it that brings this bright idea into Solomon's mind? To be sure, his experience in the school of hard-knocks helps him along. But what gives Solomon such wisdom is the Holy Spirit.<br />
<br />
And that is the Spirit's task—to give us the light to see beyond the here and now; to illumine our lives so that we see both our misguided wanderings and the real path that lies beyond. But most of all, the Spirit's task is to help us live beyond this moment, and most of all, to help us yearn and strive and work for the life
lived within the Father's warm embrace, the life which causes His eyes to light up with joy and pride.<br />
<br />
To strive for that life, we need the Holy Spirit. For He helps us see that such a life is both real and possible. And He plants within us the zeal to yearn and strive for such a life. <br />
<br />
But first, the Holy Spirit must burn up the rust of sin which tarnishes our daily life; He must dissipate the mist caused by the coldness of our hearts (St Gregory the Great). He must melt away the dross of our ungodly desires. And He must warm our hearts so that He might gently bend our stiff necks to look not down at wherever our feet lead us, but up to the treasures our heavenly Father shows us and points us toward and gives us from His own hand.<br />
<br />
Burning, dissipating, melting, warming. And most of all, illuminating. Is it any wonder that the Holy Spirit comes in the form of fire? Is it any wonder that He constitutes the Church not by giving orders, but merely by lighting up the truth—the truth about ourselves, and the truth about the God who both made us and continues to love us.<br />
<br />
And so, with a wind that whooshes away the dust of death, and with a fire that that enkindles warmth and zeal, the Holy Spirit descends. But not only on that first Pentecost Day. For the Holy Spirit comes not just
once, or only occasionally. <br />
<br />
The Holy Spirit comes with the Father's Grace whenever the Church is gathered. He comes, both to gently lead and to carefully guide. He comes, both to expose our shame and entice us to repent. He comes, both to welcome us home and to strengthen us for the journey. And He comes to give us both the courage and the fortitude to live against our former ways, and to strive manfully to live the holiness for which we were designed.<br />
<br />
That holiness for which we were designed is so tersely expressed by Solomon--to fear God and keep is commandments. This is nothing different from what Jesus tells us in today's Gospel: "If any one loves Me, He will keep My word."<br />
<br />
It makes sense that love must not merely be thought, but also done; not just said but also lived. And it makes sense that to love means to let another's wish be your pleasure. Yet that is so hard to do--especially when the One we say we love is the One we cannot see.<br />
<br />
And so, in our hearts where our love ultimately lives, in our minds where our love comes alive, in our souls where our love delights—that is where the Holy Spirit comes. So that we might see. So that we might do. And
so that we might both put away our false loves, and then also live whole-heartedly for the One we say we love.<br />
<br />
Such loving, such desire, such living is hard to do alone. In fact, it is impossible. For while we love individuals, we always love within a community, a family. That is how we are designed, because that is how God
loves—within the community of Himself. Since "it is not good" that this love is lived alone, the Holy Spirit also helps us to see where love is truly lived—within the Church which He has birthed. <br />
<br />
Of all the things that Spirit brings to light, of all the enlightenings and illuminings that He graciously does for us, this is the greatest one—that we do not love alone. We love with each other. Within families. And most especially, within the holy family of the Church, which is governed by our Father. <br />
<br />
And so our prayer is not that the Holy Spirit come to me or you. Rather, we beg the Holy Spirit to come in order to kindle in the hearts of His faithful people the fire of His love. A fire which purges our fears. A fire
which soothes our hearts. A fire which helps us to see. And a fire that unites us as we bask in its glow, and study its fascinating features, and live by its warmth.<br />
<br />
This warmth is not just for us here in this place, just as the fire on the heads of the Apostles did not light up their words so they could speak only amongst themselves. This fire crosses all lines—even the lines of time and space—since it draws together all nations and kindreds and people and tongues. <br />
<br />
Let us, then, call on those who have gone before us—those holy men and women who have been enkindled with the fire of the Spirit’s love. Let us call on them so that they may mercifully, by their merits and prayers,
encourage us, and stand beside us, and assist us, and strengthen us. For we need their Spirit-given wisdom so that we do not turn a blind eye nor fear the light of truth, but press on in the holy faith which the Spirit of Truth teaches us.<br />
<br />
By the holy prayers of all the saints, may we truly believe that we have seen the True Light; that we have received the Heavenly Spirit; that we have found the True Faith; and so we worship the Undivided Trinity, Who has saved us; to whom belongs all glory, honor and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of
ages.
Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-11681061978619884752014-05-19T08:41:00.003-04:002014-06-08T16:32:51.403-04:00In Praise of New Martyrs<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>NOTE: This homily was preached at <a href="http://www.holyincarnation.org/" target="_blank">Holy Incarnation Orthodox Church</a> on the Fourth Sunday after Easter (18 May 2014), which also commemorated Saint Venantius.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dearly beloved,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Life comes from death. Virginity gives birth to Life.
Weakness perfects strength. Defeat leads to victory. Wisdom begins with fear. Humility
overwhelms pride. Sorrow turns into joy. The dead become immortal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Christian faith is filled with many seeming
contradictions. Our Lord’s Passion not only teaches but instills and inculcates
in us this key truth. Yet it is a truth that we too quickly forget, and which
our lives too easily deny. But this truth alone is able to sustain us in our
darkest hours, when all hope seems lost, when faith seems pointless. Which is
why we must continually hear, and take to heart, the stories of the saints,
especially the martyrs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Consider Saint Venantius, whom we commemorate today. At the
age of 15, because he confessed Christ, Venantius was scourged, imprisoned,
tortured with torches, dangled head-down over smoke to suffocate, beaten so
that both jaws were broken and he lost all his teeth, thrown into a dungpit and
then fed to the lions. All these things he suffered without complaint. During all
these afflictions holy Venantius was strengthened by angels. And his quiet
patience and longsuffering, his firm constancy and conviction, his meek
endurance and lack of complaint—this impressed all who saw and heard, so that
these gruesome tortures did not frighten, but rather fortified the faithful and
attracted the unknowing. When Venantius was finally beheaded, so were many new
Christians who desired the certain hope and the strong faith that he
evinced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And so here is another seeming contradiction. Torture
reveals hope. Persecution attracts men not to bloodlust, but to believe. And
martyrdom does not weaken resolve or decrease numbers, but rather increases and
builds up the church.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This is true not only then, but even now. Even now, especially
in Syria, new Venantius’—teenage boys and girls—are boldly testifying to their
faith with their own blood. Martyrdom continues, and even now increases. And
those who kill and torture are thinking that they are destroying the Church.
But they don’t see the truth that we know. They don’t understand the seeming
contradictions that are the bedrock of our faith. And so they will not believe
that this is our finest hour. So even now in the arid lands of the Middle East,
these are the days when the Tree of Christ is being watered with the blood of
new martyrs, so that she may grow and flourish and feed our faith. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And so, another seeming contradiction—the gruesome scenes we
hardly hear about should not depress us, or scare us, or cause us to wring our
hands. These grisly martyrdoms ought to enliven our faith, and increase our
hope, and rejoice our hearts; even as they also concentrate our own minds so
that we more eagerly and more quickly “cast away all uncleanness and abundance
of naughtiness.” For how can we continue giving into our ungodly desires and
appetites, when we see the passion of these new martyrs? How can we not want
all the more to “put to death the deeds of our flesh,” when we hear of the death
of these new martyrs? And how can we think twice about giving our meager
sacrifices, when we see these new martyrs give all that they have and all that
they are for the love of Christ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Spurred on by their merits, let us with increasing “meekness
receive the ingrafted word.” For in these new martyrs, that ingrafted word manifests
His grace to us. In them, the Spirit of truth is evident—the Spirit who builds
up his Church using such witnesses; and the Truth who reveals Himself so
clearly in these seeming contradictions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What we hear in today’s news, what we see in Saint
Venantius—this is not new to us. It is simply the continuation of our Easter
joy—the joy where “death and life have contended in the combat stupendous,” so
that “the Prince of Life who died reigns immortal” so that we, who are not
bloodied nor bear any wounds, nevertheless win the victory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, as we hear these of these saints, let us not be
overwhelmed with sadness. And certainly let us not pity them. Rather, let us
remember yet another seeming contradiction: that such sadness ushers in
gladness; that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. For while this kind of
“anger of man worketh not the justice of God,” it certainly does testify to our
hope and point to our salvation. And of this we can be supremely confident:
that such hatred will be defeated by love. For that is our faith—that Love
Himself is at work today, even as He was in His Passion, in ways we cannot
always see or understand; to whom, by the prayers of His holy martyrs, belongs
all glory, honor and worship, now and ever and unto the ages of ages.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Christ is risen!</span></div>
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Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-55627451193201051322014-05-01T19:10:00.001-04:002014-05-01T19:10:28.655-04:00The Culture Sarah Palin Reveals<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/28/palin-waterboarding-is-how-we-baptize-terrorists/" target="_blank">Sarah Palin's recent comments at the NRA convention</a> linking baptism and the
water-boarding torture method are egregious and reprehensible.
Regrettably, however, they are also all too common in two ways. <br /> <br />
First, our political speech has become increasingly extreme by all
sides of the political spectrum. And Palin often places herself at the
forefront of this practice, of which there are too many a<span class="text_exposed_show">mateur
as well as professional practitioners. Perhaps they fear not being
heard above the cacophony of political noise. Perhaps theirs is a
woefully misguided attempt to rouse an increasingly apathetic nation.
More likely, this method is merely an attempt to grab today's headlines
so that the name or issue stays out there. Regardless the reason, this
extreme speech loses more ground than it gains.<br /> <br /> Second, we live
(and have always lived) within a non-sacramental milieu, both because
the ruling Christians have historically been from traditions which are
rooted less in the mysterious and more in the rational or emotional; and
because their fading numbers are being replaced by those (<a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2014/04/28/hannity-defends-sarah-palins-waterboarding-is-h/199060" target="_blank">Christian</a> and
non-Christian alike) whose morality is as materialistic as it is
relativistic. In this context, baptism and other sacraments and
sacramentals are nothing more than a figure of speech.<br /> <br /> In my
view, the response is not to turn to those groups which cynically use
such egregious and reprehensible speech to advance their own agenda; nor
to engage in petition-signings which too often delude us into thinking
that we did something meaningful. The response, in my view, is to remain
faithful, to eschew such extreme speech, and to be ready to give a
defense for the hope that lives within us.</span></span>Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-12756680840327559502013-05-30T18:04:00.000-04:002013-05-30T18:04:11.649-04:00Some Undermining PremisesIt is always fun hearing a Confessional Lutheran argue against
Lutheranism (<a href="http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7617525341761466610&postID=4753873730186935896" target="_blank">see comment 2</a>)! I remember those days with some fondness, yet not for that
reason alone but because they stand closer to the angels and with a few
firmer roots in the Tradition, I shall always cheer for the Confessional
Lutheran.<br />
<br />
Yet I do so with sadness, knowing that two premises
undermine their argument (both against Lutheranism and with the Orthodox
and Catholics). These are:<br />
<br />
1) Confessional Lutheran arguments
cannot escape the atmosphere and water of Lutheranism within which they
are formed. In other words, many suppositions of Lutheranism still lurk
beneath and within the Confessional Lutheran argument--something I many
fought to deny for many years, but ultimately could not. As support, I
point not only to the arguments among Confessional Lutherans about their
own self-understanding of the Confessions, but also to the odd
co-mingling of Chemnitz and Gerhard (among others). There is a
discernible gap among the former and anything that grew up in "Lutheran
Orthodoxy."<br />
<br />
2)
At the end of the day, there is no Confessional Lutheran ecclesiology,
not simply because ecclesiology is hardly a topic in the 16th-18th
centuries (one has to look to Loehe to find the beginnings of an
attempt), but also because Lutheranism and Confessional Lutherans agree
on an ecclesiology that is at variance with the "faith once
delivered"--an ecclesiology which was clearly
apparent in Luther and Chemnitz, but which changed dramatically the day
that Lutherans accepted the fact that they are Lutherans.<br />
<br />
As for
this present presentation by the learned Subdeacon, his main point still
needs to be reckoned with; namely, how can the Lutheran Confessions, in
several places, speak of God being reconciled to man. One of my Lutheran pastor friends once tried to argue this case, but it was not convincing,
especially when he was asked to play by his own rules
("bible-locatedness"). It shall, I fear, forever remain a puzzle for
those of us who have rejected the notion that Jesus was praying that the
Father had abandoned Him (Ps 21 [22]), thereby consigning Him to a
wrath and fury worse than hell, all so that He might appease God's
wrath.<br />
<br />
But now I'm back where I began--with the Lutheranism
(i.e., Robert Jensen's "Calvinism with a bizarre sacramentology attached")
which hides within the Confessional Lutheran defense.
Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-49372027962854173122013-04-21T20:45:00.001-04:002013-04-21T20:46:44.550-04:00Passiontide EncouragementI was granted the privilege of preaching the
homily at the pan-Orthodox Vespers this evening at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church
hosted by the Council of Orthodox Christian Churches of Detroit. What follows
is the homily. I pray that you find the words encouraging.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In less than two weeks, we will be celebrating the Queen of Feasts, the
resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Even now, we should be
eagerly anticipating this feast. For it is the highlight not of spring, but the
highlight of our life in God. And even if you’ve not been successful thus far
at keeping the fast—not merely the fast from food, but the more important fast
from sin; and not merely the abstention from meat but the abstention from
mean-speaking and thoughtless prayer and living as if you mattered most—even if
you’ve struggled with this Lent’s fast, nevertheless we should all be longing
to delight in the gracious invitation that St John Chrysostom will once again
issue on Easter Day. And to see the resplendent gold and candlelight, to repeat
the uplifting hymns, to add our vigorous Amen to the prayers that warm our
hearts—that should even now increase our expectation to celebrate this joyous
day.<br />
<br />
Yet in these next two weeks, even if he cannot steal our faith or blunt our resolve,
the devil will seek to subdue our joy and depress our delight, and disrupt our gladness.
And so be on your guard. For in these final days of the fast, you will be
besieged by various temptations. The devil will play upon your addicting
weaknesses. He will urge you to ignore your well-formed conscience, and will entice
you to give into your ungodly passions. And he will haunt you with your past
sins, and will play upon your vulnerabilities, and will seduce you to crave
other joys, and lead you to despair of your weaknesses and mortality. And all
this he will do so that you will be downcast and shame-faced as the Feast of
Feast approaches.<br />
<br />
Yet do lose heart. For Our Lord’s Spirit in the Church has given us the means to
combat this wily foe, and to endure these next two weeks. And so we are not
left to our own devices, nor must we by our own strength somehow seek to
deceive this Deceiver. Instead, we can combat this Accuser of our souls in
three ways.<br />
<br />
First, let us in the next few days make a good confession. Let us bend under the
protecting stole of our spiritual father, and hold nothing back, and make no
excuses, but say honestly what we have done and leave everything on the table.
For when we’ve said it aloud, the devil’s ability to sap our strength is
weakened. And then let us hear with an open heart, and take into ourselves, the
absolution prayer that our father speaks. For his words will certainly give us
the courage and grace to combat the devil’s allurements, and will help us live
through our past darkness. And that word of mercy will certainly cause of the
sun of righteousness to warm our soul.<br />
<br />
Second, let us find inspiration and strength in the prayers of St Simon of Cyrene. With
reluctance, he took up the Lord’s cross. And yet, as he carried the cross, Our
Lord was beside St Simon, strengthening him and increasing his faith, so that what
began as a burdensome task was converted into a joyous duty, even to the point
that he wished to be crucified with Our Lord. So learn from St Simon the audacity
to follow Christ with your mind and spirit even when your flesh wants to go
another way. And so beg his prayers, so that your heart may also not shrink
from the burden of these remaining days, and may find joy in what others will
say is an onerous and arduous and inhuman obligation.<br />
<br />
Third, above all else, let us make truly our own the words of Christ’s heartfelt prayer
to His Father. You know that in the midst of His agony in the garden, as He
feels in His human nature the weight of His burden, Our Lord Jesus aligns His
will with the Father’s will by saying, “Not my will, but thine be done.” Let
this also be your heart’s desire. And let these words focus and concentrate
your mind during these coming weeks. For as our will becomes the Lord’s will,
as we take up our cross and follow him, as we are supported and buoyed by the
prayers of St Simon, then will we be able to celebrate Our Lord’s resurrection
with unbridled joy, and our gladness will be unhindered, and our singing will
be unimpeded, and our approach to the chalice will be unhesitating.<br />
<br />
And in this way, by these means, the grace and merits of Our Lord’s Passion will safely
escort us through these next two weeks, and guided us unscathed past the snares
and machinations of the devil.<br />
<br />
By the prayers of St Simon, St Mary of Egypt whom we commemorate this day, and of
all the saints, may it be so. And by their prayers, may we attain the fullness of
the heavenly kingdom where, without assault, we shall worship full-throatedly
the holy and blessed Trinity; to whom belongs all glory, honor and worship, now
and ever and unto the ages of ages.</blockquote>
<br />Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-61732871425834723692012-04-14T11:22:00.001-04:002012-04-14T11:22:06.247-04:00East vs. West??<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text">Several times I've read and even participated in discussions concerning the differences between Orthodox and Catholic theology. Too often I see that these differences are boiled down to "East vs. West." For example, it is simplistically implied that to become Orthodox is to reject Western philosophical categories or Western theological approaches, upon which is blamed every heresy (real or imagined).</span><br />
<br />
<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text">I think, however, the differences in
Eastern and Western Christian approaches </span><span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"> are too often overdrawn</span><span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text">. Differences in approach have
existed since before the schism and, too often, they are
magnified out of proportion. When this is done, acceptable distinctions
become seemingly inseparable differences. A regrettable result is that
these differences are laid at the foot of the West generally or a
Western approach; or vice versa. The problem, in my view and in the view
of some Orthodox and Catholic theologians, is not the West or the East
but these distorted magnifications which overwhelm or skew or (in a few
cases) negate these different but acceptable approaches. The solution is to eschew the simplistic tendency to blame the West, and to embrace the good which both approaches offer. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="commentBody" data-jsid="text"><br /></span>Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-23225584731860613312012-04-03T11:37:00.000-04:002012-04-03T11:37:45.747-04:00Living RepentanceThe Irish Catholic Bishops have <a href="http://www.catholicbishops.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Repent-and-believe-the-Good-News-final.pdf">recently published a letter on repentance</a> which, I think, says many good things. Here are a few choice excerpts.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The word ‘repentance’ means seeking forgiveness for our sins, but more than that, it involves transforming our attitudes and our lives. The New Testament word, metanoia, means a profound change of outlook. Repentance or penance is not a question of inflicting pain or hardship on ourselves for its own sake. Penance – fasting, prayer, works of mercy, giving to those who are in need and so on – is done ‘because the kingdom of God has come near’; we repent in order to ‘believe in the good news’. It is a change of outlook that allows us to see more clearly what God is doing in us and for us.</blockquote>
...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The reason for carrying out acts of penance is that we know we have often failed to appreciate that everything we have and are is a gift from God. We have all pursued our own interests, standing and influence as if these were our goal in life. And so it is good to pray, fast and give alms –activities which express a realisation that the pursuit of such goals cannot be what makes ultimate sense of our lives. That points to the second and more important way of looking at why we do penance – in order to receive the Good News. The words that come from the mouth of God are not just rules or demands. It is in the words of promise and love that come from the mouth of God that we find the meaning of human life.</blockquote>
...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If we allow lesser realities to occupy the place in our lives which belongs to God who is love (1 Jn 4:8, 16), we inevitably obscure our understanding of the full reality of God’s gift. The lesser things that we pursue can be important and good. Everyone needs goals and hopes in life, but no created reality can fully and eternally satisfy us: Let us say once again, we need the greater and lesser hopes that keep us going day by day. But these are not enough without the great hope, which must surpass everything else. This great hope can only be God, who encompasses the whole of reality and who can bestow upon us what we, by ourselves, cannot attain.3 Penance or repentance is not simply an exercise that we do from time to time. It is, one might say, what our life is about.</blockquote>
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-7040697242793751572012-03-12T11:24:00.001-04:002012-03-12T11:24:40.323-04:00Reflecting on LentLent is a time of restraint and self-control. It is time when we earnestly strive to live within boundaries, not just in what we eat but also with the words we use, in what possesses our imagination, and in how we treat another.<br />
<br />
Lent is a time when we stop focusing on our wants and desires. For only when we limit our self-gratifications and discipline our passions can we truly begin to see what God wills. And only when we control our appetites can we truly begin to see what others need.<br />
<br />
Lent, then, is a time when we push aside our needs and put ourselves in the background, and instead have the Word of God take first place and likewise let the needs of others come before what we like.Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-82832704020355450482012-03-05T11:10:00.002-05:002012-03-05T11:12:35.627-05:00Faith alone is not enoughVery few folks in America vote against God. The vast majority say they believe in God. The better questions is which god they believe in, and what they believe about God. But rarely are those questions pursued in public discourse or even in "mass evangelization." For our nations Protestant roots have embedded in us the notion that it is simply enough to believe. So much is this false notion emdedded within us that we often hear the slogan absent the object: "Just have faith" or "You've gotta believe." As if faith alone is enough.<br />
<br />
Commenting on the Last Judgment scene in Matthew 25, St Augustine confronts head-on the false theology which says that faith alone is sufficient. When examining that scene, he points out that Our Lord charges the condemned "with having failed, not in faith, but in good works." <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He does not rebuke them because they have not believed in him, but because they have not done any good works. For assuredly, lest anyone should promise himself eternal life by reason of his faith (which without works is dead), He went on to say that He would separate all nations, which before had been herded together, and were accustomed to use the same pastures... These [condemned] had believed in Him, but had not taken pains to do good works, as though they could achieve eternal life by means of that same dead faith.</blockquote>
Notice how our holy father among the saints characterizes the understanding of faith alone, or faith without works. He says that it is "dead faith." Living faith, however, is what Our Lord desires; and it is that faith which attains eternal blessedness and grants us the beatific vision. This living faith is active in love; in fact, the two are inseparable. For to believe in God is both to love Him and to love Him in others.<br />
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St Augustine indicates that this is the point that not only St James, but also St Paul also makes when he says, "Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-16099765339212888052012-03-04T20:51:00.006-05:002012-03-06T11:12:52.379-05:00Kissing Metal<a href="http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/sp/ap_photo/20120206/all/l5747762.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://d.yimg.com/i/ng/sp/ap_photo/20120206/all/l5747762.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 375px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 450px;" /></a><br />
Amongst the Byzantine and Slavonic Orthodox churches, the First Sunday in Lent is known as the "Orthodoxy Sunday" or "Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy." That day commemorates both those who suffered or were martyred for defending icons, and the victory of Orthodoxy over iconoclasm. Above all else, this Sunday reiterates the confession that in Christ God assumed created matter, and so is able to be depicted. Hence, the prohibitions in the Old Testament do not apply to Christ Jesus or His saints (in whom He lives), or any likeness (e.g., dove or cloud) in which the Divine reveals Himself. (As an aside, while the West did not suffer iconoclasm in the 8th and 9th centuries, they consistently agreed with the doctrine and confession of the Eastern churches.)<br />
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Icons are not only the chief expression of this doctrine; they are a particular visible form of confession amongst the Orthodox generally and the Byzantine and Slavonic churches specifically. Hence, icons are consistently venerated, particularly by being kissed. (Notice: there is a clear distinction linguistically and theologically between "veneration" and "worship.") These icons are made of various media; most commonly painted wood, mosaics, or enameled or painted or engraved metal.<br />
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Because of our practice of venerating icons, Orthodox Christians are often accused of greater or lesser degrees of idolatry. The most virulent will recite the words, "Thou shalt not make any graven image/icon" while others will confuse the veneration of the icons with the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In the case of the former, the particular doctrine described above is not understood; in the case of the latter, the distinction between sacrament and sacramental is lost.<br />
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The irony of this criticism is clearly shown when one remembers the ceremony that took place a few weeks ago at the end of the Super Bowl. One by one, players and coaches from the victorious New York Giants football team <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=giants+kiss+trophy&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=FBO&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&ei=yhtUT9yjEafW0QGZ_OGLDw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCsQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=618">lined up to kiss the Lombardi trophy</a>. No one took that ceremony as strange. No one accused these men who were kissing engraved metal of idolatry. In fact, most everyone understood what they were doing - giving true lip-service to their joy at having reached their season-long goal.<br />
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If football players are permitted to kiss their metallic symbol, then why should anyone look askance when Orthodox Christians affectionately kiss their symbols of faith? If athletes can venerate their signs of victory, then why is it hard to understand Orthodox Christians who venerate the signs of their Victor and victors? If it is accepted when others hug tightly those things which depict such mundane and fading accomplishments, then surely there should be no qualms with Orthodox Christians embracing sacramentals which which depict their God and Lord, and His glory in His saints.<br />
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Of course, there are qualms; the veneration is not understood; and the kisses are denounced. And I suggest that this occurs because those who reject such Christian piety understand precisely what the Orthodox Christian is doing; he is confessing that Him whom the world cannot contain was conceived in the flesh of the Virgin; and that this same Virgin together with all the saints pinned their hopes to their undying victory in this God-Man.<br />
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HT: <a href="http://detroit.goarch.org/metropolis-of-detroit/clergy/fr.-william-bartz">Fr William Bartz</a>, Chancellor of the <a href="http://www.detroit.goarch.org/">Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit</a> and homilist at the <a href="http://www.coccdetroit.com/">COCC </a>(Metro Detroit) Inter-Orthodox Lenten Vespers at St Mary's Basilica.Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-69865264657120816532012-03-02T10:40:00.004-05:002012-03-02T10:55:13.155-05:00Doing the Impossible - Loving Your EnemiesThe words "Love your enemies" are the most radical of all words ever spoken. No other religion or philosophy urges such a demanding and seemingly impossible thing. Most religions and philosophies entreat their followers to follow the "golden rule." Words similar to that rule articulated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount can be found in the teachings of Confucious, for example. However, even the gentlest of philosophers never urged his disciples to love his enemies. The closest that one comes to that command apart from Jesus is the notion not to hate your enemies.<br /><br />What does it mean, then, to love your enemies. To love is to sacrifice. That is how love looks, how love lives. It is more than an emotion or feeling; it is stronger than liking; it far exceeds tolerance or the lack of hatred. To love means to give all that you have and all that you are to another. To love your enemy means, therefore, to be willing to sacrifice yourself and your goods for the person who is set on killing you.<br /><br />Most men do not let Jesus' words, "Love your enemies," stand as bare as they truly are. Instead, they interpret them ironically or paradoxically. Yet Jesus is not speaking sardonically, or commanding the impossible. To be sure, these words seem impossible to live and, at the least, demand the very difficult. But as we consider these words, it is good to keep in mind what our holy father in the faith, St Jerome, once wrote about them: "Many people measure the precepts of God by their own weakness rather than by the strength of the saints." He then points to the examples of David loving Saul and Absalom; of Stephen loving those who stoned him; and of Paul being willing to be damned in order to save his persecutors.<br /><br />And then, of course, there is the example of Our Lord Himself. When He commands us to love our enemies, Jesus is merely imploring His disciples to follow in the path that He trod; to love as He loves. And in doing so, Our Lord knows that such such is able to convert an enemy to a friend.Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-40811480180377331482012-02-29T11:57:00.003-05:002012-02-29T12:03:33.580-05:00Syrian Christians Prefer AssadOn this blog I generally eschew news or commentary about political or geo-political events. In this instance, however, the situation in Syria is especially relevant to a priest in the Antiochian Archdiocese.<br /><br />Seeing and hearing precious little about how the Syrian "revolution" is affecting minorities and why the dictator retains support, I found <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/world/middleeast/syria-crisis-highlights-paradoxes-of-assad-support.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss">this NY times article</a> especially helpful. The following excerpt is especially of interest to me:<br /><br /><br /><blockquote>Syria’s minorities have the example of Iraq in considering their own future, should the Assad government fall: Assyrian Christians, Yazidis and others were brutally persecuted by insurgents. In Egypt, where a similar paradigm was toppled with the long-serving dictator Hosni Mubarak, Christians have experienced more sectarian violence, increasing political marginalization and a growing link between Islamic identity and citizenship.<br /><br />“Christians are all saying that Syria risks becoming the new Iraq, a country divided among ethnic and religious lines where there is no place for Christians,” said the Rev. Bernardo Cervellera, the editor in chief of AsiaNews, a Catholic news agency. Syria, while not a democracy, “at least protects them,” he said. </blockquote>Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-82724781933490447672012-02-27T12:51:00.003-05:002012-02-27T12:56:02.957-05:00Not a legalistic exercise but a spiritual disciplineIn the midst of a lengthy post concerning the Byzantine Lenten fast, John, at <a href="http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/">Ad Orientem</a>, offers <a href="http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com/2012/02/fasting-rules-for-lent.html">these sage words</a> which we do well to heed:<br /><br /><blockquote>[F]asting is not a legalistic exercise. God does not particularly care how<br />strictly you are able to observe a 5th century dietary code. Eating a<br />Cheeseburger during Lent on a Friday is not a mortal sin (except possibly to<br />your waistline). If you do eat one and happen to die before going to confession<br />you do not need to plan on being buried in an asbestos suit. Point in fact very<br />few Orthodox laymen keep the fast in its full rigor. I certainly have yet to<br />keep the fast with anything close to perfection.<br /><br />That said one should not just blow it off. Fasting is a spiritual<br />discipline intended to stretch the body and help tame the passions. And it is a<br />very important weapon in the spiritual warfare that we are engaged in more or<br />less continuously until we die. So when you fall, don't give up. Pick yourself<br />up, dust yourself off and get back on the wagon.<br /><br />Also it serves no purpose to abstain from all manner of food and drink if<br />we do not also give up our vices. In particular be wary of gossip.<br />Your fast is your own business and no one else's (save God's and your<br />confessor's). Likewise how others are keeping their fast is not your<br />concern.<br /></blockquote>Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-80816125717371688342012-02-26T22:35:00.002-05:002012-02-26T22:38:25.788-05:00Dying to Self: The Lenten FastWith its fast and penitential exercises, Lent enables us to associate ourselves with and participate spiritually in Christ’s work of redemption. In rebellion against God, our souls have truly become slaves of the world, the flesh and the devil. To break that slavery, we need the grace of God which comes with abstention and fasting coupled with prayer and almsgiving. For as the holy fathers teach us, our fasting from food is unhelpful unless we are striving to fast from sin by subduing our passions of our flesh, which are enticed by the devil and fueled by society’s aberrant morality. Therefore, during the holy season of Lent, we are invited by the Church both to put into practice the teachings of Christ and to follow His example in fighting the devil and the powers of evil by means of self-denial as we attend to His holy Word.<br /><br />Lent is a kind of retreat from the world. Just as Our Lord, after His baptism, retreated from the world for forty days to immerse Himself in fasting and prayer, so we follow His example. Yet our retreat is not to fight our own battles, just as Our Lord’s retreat was not to fight His own battle. Our Lord retreated in order to enter into our fray; and we retreat in order to participate in His passion. He strove against Satan so that, on the cross, He might overcome Him and win for us the victory. We wrestle and strive “against <span class="st">principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual </span>wickedness in high places” so that we might not lose the blood-bought victory, and might attain the crown. This retreat, then, ought not be seen as a means of winning what we do not have, but as a means of not losing what we’ve already been given, and also a means of growing in what we already have.<br /><br />Dying to ourselves so that we might live to God in Christ is the purpose of this holy quarantine. The question the devil continually put to Christ is little different from the question the accuser asks us. To Our Lord he said, “Are you truly the Son of God?” To us the devil asks, “Are you truly a child of God?” As the accuser, Satan produces evidence of which we are all too familiar—evidence from our past, evidence from our desires and passions, evidence that may even lurk deeply within us. This evidence the devil with throw up against us in order to cause us to question our status as a child of God. Because this evidence comes to mind especially when we fast, we need to be more reliant upon the grace of the absolution of God. Frequency in the Sacrament of Penance, then, is necessary during the Lenten fast.<br /><br />Yet we must not also lose sight of the devil’s desire. With Christ, the devil desired that He not re-enter the world as the Savior and Messiah. With us, the devil desires that we not re-enter the world as children of God. His goal is to beat us down so that we question both Our Lord’s love for us and our desire to live for Him, and thereby give in to our passions thinking that we can put off holiness for another moment or day. So during this Lenten fast, let us be clear-minded by recalling both that Our Lord was tempted in all points as we are so that He might overcome our adversary; and also that we retreat not to avoid re-entry but so that we might increase in holiness. To increase in holiness means that we decrease in self-reliance while increasing in our dependence upon grace.<br /><br />Decreasing in self-reliance is the death of self that fasting seeks to instill in us. No longer do we live to gratify our flesh; now we live to love God by gratifying whatever another desires. Our hold, then, on the things of this world must loosen, as Christ teaches us so plainly in His great sermon (cf Luke 6.27-36). Likewise, our fear of missing out—which so often drives the “need” to feed our passions by the feeling that we need to experience all that “life” offers—also must die. Fasting, when properly practiced, teaches both our body and our soul this self-mortification. As we put to death the desires of the flesh, we will see, through prayer, that the desire of the spirit will enhance our life and thereby increase our joy. A greater detachment from the empty pleasures this world offers will lead us to be more generous both in our almsgiving to others as well as in our time to God in worship and prayer.<br /><br />Let this Lenten fast, then, be the occasion and means for leaning less upon our desires and more upon God’s unending grace. Let it purify our souls as we seek to cleanse our bodies. Above all else, let this holy season by a time when we immerse ourselves more and more in the faith and love which the Spirit has so generously poured upon us so that we might truly seek and find our happiness and treasures not in the pleasures of this world but in the unfading riches of the life of the world to come.Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21841592.post-26935296073042353712012-02-22T20:34:00.002-05:002012-02-26T13:59:40.293-05:00Orthodox Ash WednesdayFor all Orthodox Christians, the Holy Season of Lent begins on the First Sunday in Lent (4 March in 2012), and the Lenten fast begins a few days prior. For Byzantine Orthodox Christians, the First Day of the Great Fast is on the Monday before the First Sunday in Lent; and for Western Orthodox Christians the Lenten fast begins on the Wednesday before, commonly known as Ash Wednesday.<br /><br />While both traditions observe a 40 day fast, the different starting dates for the fast are related to how the fast is calculated. Among the Byzantine Orthodox the 40 days include only weekdays (not Saturdays or Sundays), and are figured by including two weeks of pre-Lenten "preparation" when abstention from first meat and then dairy are enjoined. (The Sunday before abstention from meat is known as "Meat Fare Sunday" and the Sunday before abstention from dairy is known as "Cheese Fare Sunday.") Early on in the West, however, the Lenten fast never included Sundays and the pre-Lenten "preparation" was limited to monastics and clergy. (This preparation begins three Sundays before Ash Wednesday on Septuagesima Sunday). Therefore, in order to achieve 40 days, since at least the 7<sup>th</sup> century the Western Orthodox have fast not only for six fully weeks (i.e., 36 days) but also four additional days. Hence, for about 1400 years the Lenten fast in the West has begun on the Wednesday before the First Sunday in Lent.<br /><br />It is not clear when the Wednesday beginning the Lenten fast began to include the imposition of ashes. Originally, the imposition of ashes was one of several public rites required of those penitents who wished to be restored to the church. As early as the 4<sup>th</sup> century, these rites were associated with a 40 day fast. Most likely this fast was the Lenten fast, but the evidence is too thin to be conclusive. What does seem clear is that, by the end of the 10<sup>th</sup> century, it was customary in western Europe (but not yet in Rome) for all the faithful to receive ashes on the first day of the Lenten fast. In 1091, this custom was then ordered by Pope Urban II at the council of Benevento to be extended to the church in Rome. Not long after that, the name of the day was referred to in the liturgical books as “Feria Quarta Cinerum” (i.e., Ash Wednesday).<br /><br />The ashes that are placed on the heads of the faithful are made from burning the blessed palm branches from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. Parishioners are taught to place these blessed palms behind crucifixes and icons in their homes throughout the year, and then return them to the parish church during the weeks before Ash Wednesday. After they are burned, the ashes are then blessed by the priest, usually immediately before the Ash Wednesday mass.<br /><br />While they may be distributed outside of the mass or any liturgical service, commonly the faithful receive their ashes immediately before the Ash Wednesday mass. As the choir sings various chants, the priest places the ashes on each person while saying, “Remember, man that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.” (Gen 3.19) These words indicate that the ashes are a sign of mortality, and thereby spiritually call each person to mortify their flesh during the season of Lent through the sacrificial acts of prayer, fasting, almsgiving. In fact, the Scripture readings for the Ash Wednesday mass say as much. From the prophet Joel, the faithful hear that they are to return to the Lord with all their heart by means of fasting, weeping, and mourning; and in this way, they rend their hearts and turn to the Lord God. Likewise, in the Gospel lesson the Lord admonishes the faithful to fast in order to recall that their hearts are to be fixed not on earthly but heavenly treasures.<br /><br />For Western Orthodox Christians, the reception of ashes together as a community on the first day of the Lenten fast is a tactilely poignant sign that their fast is not simply the denial of foods, but the ascetic discipline of subduing the passions and putting to death ungodly ways so that they may strive to attain, with repentant joy, not only the great celebration both of the Queen of feasts, but also the heavenly riches and abundant life that await those who remain faithful in word and deed.Fr John W Fentonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01283787316830250866noreply@blogger.com2