Pentecost Monday homily

Among Western Catholics (except those following the Orthodox calendar), today is Monday within the Octave of Pentecost--known also by its older English title as "Whitsun Monday." The Gospel reading for the Mass is St. John 3.16-21. Below are the words from St. John Chrysostom's homily on 3.17 that I read after the Gospel reading during the Mass at Zion.

Many of the more careless sort of persons, using the lovingkindness of God to increase the magnitude of their sins and the excess of their disregard, speak in this way, "There is no hell, there is no future punishment, God forgives us all sins." To stop whose mouths a wise man says, "Say not, His mercy is great, He will be pacified for the multitude of my sins; for mercy and wrath come from Him, and His indignation resteth upon sinners" (Ecclus. v. 6): and again, "As His mercy is great, so is His correction also." (Ecclus. xvi. 12.) "Where then," saith one, "is His lovingkindness, if we shall receive for our sins according to our deserts?" That we shall indeed receive "according to our deserts," hear both the Prophet and Paul declare; one says, "Thou shalt render to every man according to his work" (Ps. lxii. 12, Ps. lxii. 12 LXX.); the other, "Who will render to every man according to his work." (Rom. ii. 6.) And yet we may see that even so the lovingkindness of God is great; in dividing our existence into two periods, the present life and that which is to come, and making the first to be an appointment of trial, the second a place of crowning, even in this He hath shown great lovingkindness.

"How and in what way?" Because when we had committed many and grievous sins, and had not ceased from youth to extreme old age to defile our souls with ten thousand evil deeds, for none of these sins did He demand from us a reckoning, but granted us remission of them by the washing of Regeneration, and freely gave us Righteousness and Sanctification. "What then," says one, "if a man who from his earliest age has been deemed worthy of the mysteries, after this commits ten thousand sins?" Such an one deserves a severer punishment. For we do not pay the same penalties for the same sins, if we do wrong after Initiation. And this Paul declares, saying, "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" (Heb. x. 28, Heb. x. 29.) Such an one then is worthy of severer punishment. Yet even for him God hath opened doors of repentance, and hath granted him many means for the washing away his transgressions, if he will. Think then what proofs of lovingkindness these are; by Grace to remit sins, and not to punish him who after grace has sinned and deserves punishment, but to give him a season and appointed space for his clearing. For all these reasons Christ said to Nicodemus, "God sent not His Son to condemn the world, but to save the world."

For there are two Advents of Christ, that which has been, and that which is to be; and the two are not for the same purpose; the first came to pass not that He might search into our actions, but that He might remit; the object of the second will be not to remit, but to enquire. Therefore of the first He saith, "I came not to condemn the world, but to save the world" (c. iii. 17); but of the second, "When the Son shall have come in the glory of His Father, He shall set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on His left." (Matt. xxv. 31 and Matt. xxv. 46.) And they shall go, these into life; and these into eternal punishment. Yet His former coming was for judgment, according to the rule of justice. Why? Because before His coming there was a law of nature, and the prophets, and moreover a written Law, and doctrine, and ten thousand promises, and manifestations of signs, and chastisements, and vengeances, and many other things which might have set men right, and it followed that for all these things He would demand account; but, because He is merciful, He for a while pardons instead of making enquiry. For had He done so, all would at once have been hurried to perdition. For "all," it saith, "have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. iii 23.) Seest thou the unspeakable excess of His lovingkindness?

The Heresy Called Pietism

A year ago I published the following in the Zion Trumpet, the parish newsletter of Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Detroit. It relies heavily on chapter 8 in The Freedom of Morality by Christos Yannaras.

We give the name “pietism” to a phenomenon in church life which stresses “personal piety” as distinct from doctrine or the teachings of the church.

With its stress on personal piety, pietism undermines (if not also denies) unity among the body of believers and so also communion in God. For it focuses attention on the individual who is able to “appropriate” (apply to himself) his own salvation. As such, it transfers the place of man’s salvation away from the Church and into the realm of the individual and his moral endeavors.

For pietism, salvation is not primarily the fact of the church—the way Christians live in communion with God and each other. Neither is salvation man’s dynamic, personal participation in the body of the Church’s communion. So man is not saved despite his individual unworthiness. Rather, pietism sees salvation as individual attainment—the way an individual accepts Christ, believes in His saving work, and lives up to moral commitments.

In pietism, then, the Church becomes a place which assures not growth in God. Neither is it a community where one person helps save another. Rather, the Church is the gathering of justified individuals. She is nothing more than the assembly of “regenerated individuals”—a gathering of those individuals who understand themselves to be justified.

With pietism, liturgy is incidental. It exists only to uplift those individuals who find the ceremonies, hymns, and texts “meaningful” and “edifying.” The Eucharist, also, no longer embodies the fact of salvation, but is distorted into an individual event—a means of assimilating Jesus spiritually.

Pietism is a heresy—especially a false teaching about the church. It denies the very truth of the Church. It transfers the event of salvation away from the body of Christ gathered in liturgy to an individual. It divorces piety from the Trinity—that is, from living in community. And by emphasizing individual salvation, it denies that our salvation is to live life in Christ together—in constant communion with all others.

Pietism doesn’t deny the existence or helpfulness of the Church. It simply disconnects the church from salvation, and says that man’s life and salvation can (and sometimes “must”) be lived apart from the church. And so it fuels the false and unchristian notion that a person can take “time off” or “time away from” the church and her liturgy.

The truth, however, is that no salvation comes apart from the church; and no salvation is given elsewhere but in the church; and no salvation can be sustained except in the church. And the truth is that we are saved not as individuals, but to lose our individuality and to live as persons—men and women in loving communion with our God and (because of this) with each other.

"The Spirit is Manifold in His Mighty Works"

Today the Western Church will celebrate the Vigil of Pentecost, and tomorrow the Feast of Holy Pentecost. In his work On the Holy Spirit, St Basil the Great gives the classic patristic understanding (and defense) of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The following is an excerpt that I find most helpful.

Simple in himself, the Spirit is manifold in his mighty works. The whole of his being is present to each individual; the whole of his being is present everywhere. Though shared in by many, he remains unchanged; his self giving is no loss to himself. Like the sunshine, which permeates all the atmosphere, spreading over land and sea, and yet is enjoyed by each person as though it were for him alone, so the Spirit pours forth his grace in full measure, sufficient for all, and yet is present as though exclusively to everyone who can receive him. To all creatures that share in him he gives a delight limited only by their own nature, not by his ability to give.

The Spirit raises our hearts to heaven, guides the steps of the weak, and brings to perfection those who are making progress. He enlightens those who have been cleansed from every stain of sin and makes them spiritual by communion with himself.

As clear, transparent substances become very bright when sunlight falls on them and shine with a new radiance, so also souls in whom the Spirit, become spiritual themselves and a source of grace for others.

From the Spirit comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of the mysteries of faith, insight into the hidden meaning of Scripture, and other special gifts. Through the Spirit we become citizens of heaven, we enter into eternal happiness, and abide in God. Through the Spirit we acquire a likeness to God; indeed, we attain what is beyond our most sublime aspirations - we become God.

The Proof of Faith is in the Lives of the Saints

As the Octave of the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord winds to a close with II Vespers this evening, it seems fitting to be reminded of these words first preached by St Leo the Great. They are my recasting of this translation of St Leo's Sermon LXXIV, "On the Lord's Ascension."

On the fortieth day after the Resurrection in the presence of the disciples, was raised into heaven. On that day He terminated His presence with us in the body to abide on the Father's right hand. There He sits until He comes to judge the living and the dead in the same flesh in which He ascended. Yet He has not forsaken us. Instead, in His Ascension, our Redeemer’s body—which was visible and touchable during His stay on earth—was changed into a sacramental presence. Sight, then, gives way to taking to heart and obeying Our Lord’s teachings with the result that faith is made more excellent and stronger.

This Faith, increased by the Lord's Ascension and established by the gift of the Holy Ghost, is not terrified by bonds, imprisonments, banishments, hunger, fire, attacks by wild beasts, refined torments of cruel persecutors. Rather, in every age and in many places, not only men but also women, not only boys but also young girls, have fought, and continue to fight for this Faith, to the shedding of their blood. More so, this Faith casts out spirits, drives off sicknesses, and raises the dead.

The proof of this is in the lives of the saints—most especially the Holy Apostles. You will recall that, even though they had seen so many miracles performed by Our Lord and heard all of His teaching and had even acknowledge His authority, even still they were panic-stricken by the horrors of the Lord's Passion and had not accepted the truth of His resurrection without hesitation. Yet after Our Lord’s departure—after His Ascension and the descent of His Spirit—they progressed to the point that everything which had previously filled them with fear was turned into joy. In fact, they were not longer hindered by His absence. Instead, lifted the whole contemplation of their mind to the Godhead of Him who is seated at the Father's right hand. And so they confessed that the Son of God who had never left His Father’s side when He came down from heaven, is truly the Son of Man who did not forsake them when He ascended into heaven.

Also, the Holy Ghost, the Comforter

You should not be afraid or undone when you suffer in body or mind for the sake of the Faith. For all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And Our Lord tells us why this is so: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” Therefore, you must be serious and watchful in your prayers. For in whatever way you are afflicted, and whenever you endure heartache for the sake of righteousness, then rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. And do not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For you do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. These you must resist, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Yet in today's Gospel Our Lord tells us not just about suffering and misery. Today He promises that at every turn, and against every trial or temptation or heartache or turmoil, whether small or great, whether in mind or body—there is the Holy Spirit sent by the Father and the Son, to help and comfort you.

But above all, today Our Lord urges us that when we suffer, when we feel heartache, when we have misery, when we are downcast, when we are falling into despondency and despair—when these days comes, He says, “remember that I told you of them.” Listen to Him who says, “I told you of them.” It is as if He saying this:

I am going to die for the sake of your life and salvation; I am going to redeem you with My blood; I am going to aid you always in your tribulations; I am going to give you eternal rewards after your tribulations—and now, I hold out to you great solace, and a great gift of consolation. To those engaged in strife for My sake, I promise the gift of My Holy Spirit who will comfort and console you, and strengthen you—and lead you safely in the path that I have already trod for your sake. (St Bede, paraphrased)

We are prone to forget both the Holy Spirit and the consolation He is, and the soothing relief He gives. We pray earnestly to the Father, and we cry out to Our Lord Jesus. We say, “Help us, deliver us, rescue us; lead me, guide me, strengthen me; embolden me, enliven me, and warm my heart.” And today our dear Lord Jesus answers that prayer by saying, “I have both done this, and will do it again. For I send you the Holy Spirit every time I give you My Word, every time I forgive your sins, every time I minister to you through My pastors, every time I feed you with My own Body and Blood, and every time I speak to your spirit with My holy Gospel at the Holy Mass. For there is the Spirit of Truth. And He is the Spirit who not only speaks the Truth, but also gives you the Truth that I am. And in that way He comforts you—for He plants Me home within you heart and mind, and within your flesh and blood.”

Such comfort the Lord Jesus gives us from the Father in the Spirit that He sends. And it is this comfort—and this Comforter—who makes good on Our Lord’s promise that He will not leave us as orphans.

An excerpt from the Exaudi (Sunday after the Ascension) sermon preached 5.28.06 at Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Detroit.

Ask Anything

When Our Blessed Lord says, “Ask,” He encourages, urges, invites and even commands you to pray. When Our Lord Jesus says, “And you shall receive,” He assures you that your prayer will not be futile. More than that, He gives His Word that what you pray will be heard and acted upon. And when Christ the Lord promises “that your joy may be full,” He tells you the benefit of prayer.

That benefit is firmly grounded not in what you say or do, but in what Our Lord pledges to give—a joy and bliss and delight that not only warms the heart but also fills your entire being. For the joy Our Blessed Lord promises is not the flesh-pleasing joy centered on material things, or the promises of the world, or whatever else you are convinced will satisfy you and make your life better. For you know that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Set your mind, then, on things above, not on things on the earth. For the benefits Our Lord gives are not earthly but heavenly. And the joy He promises is not the self-gratifying joy that so quickly fades. The joy Our Lord promises is not only more enduring, but fuller, richer and more abundant. “That joy is so great that nothing further needs to be added to it.” None of this world’s joy can hold a candle to it. And all other joy is nothing compared to the joy Our Lord promises and gives.

So pray not for what you desire, but pray that you may desire the things of God. Pray not for faith, but pray that you may believe, know and have the firm conviction that no matter what happens, Our Lord cares for you, provides for you, does not give up on you, fights for you, and sees you through all things. And pray not to have a better life, but pray for the will, the strength and the resolve to live the life you have been given to live in Baptism. And pray these things in Jesus’ Name because, by His Spirit, He lives and dwells and abides in you; and, by the same Spirit, He has granted you the gift of you living, dwelling and abiding in Him.

“Ask anything,” Our Lord says. And so we ask for anything He says. “Ask anything,” Our Lord urges. And so we ask not for the world, but for heaven. “Ask anything,” Our Lord pleads. And so we ask for life itself—the Life that He is and that He freely breathes and plants into us. “Ask anything,” Our Lord commands. And so we ask confident that Our Lord both hears our prayer and grants our request. For He has said so. And we hold Him to His Word.

So what do we pray for? Whatever Our Lord promises. And what do we ask? That our joy may be full. And so we pray to Our Father through our Jesus to create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us. We beg Him to cast us not away from His presence, and take not His Holy Spirit from us. And we plead with Him to restore unto us the joy of our salvation, and uphold us with His generous Spirit. For then we have said what He says, and asked for what He gives. And then our joy will be full.

An excerpt from the Rogation Sunday sermon preached 5.21.06 at Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Detroit.

A Little About St Maximos the Confessor

One of the classes I'm taking for my D.Min. is an elective focusing on all the translated writings of St Maximos the Confessor. Dr William C Weinrich of Concordia Theological Seminary is teaching this class, which also includes one of my classmates from the D.Min. group. To assist me in working through one of these texts, I'll be teaching St Maximus' work, "Four Hundred Texts on Love" (also known as "Four Centuries on Charity"), to those who attend Zion's "St Lawrence Theological Institute."

Even though he "died for orthodoxy and obedience to Rome" and "is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 13 August," (source) St Maximus is not familiar to many Western Christians. No doubt, this has to do with the fact that he was a defender of the Fifth Ecumenical Council and the prime theologian whose writings undergirded the Sixth Ecumenical Council. These two councils dealt with Christological controversies that arose after the famous Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. These controversies--the monophysite and monothelite (as well as monenergism)--arose chiefly in eastern lands and so did not directly touch the western churches. In fact, it is not unfair to say that the western churches have effectively ignored, or at least grossly under-studied, the controversies leading to and decisions resulting from the Fifth & Sixth Ecumenical Councils. (Here is a brief overview.)

In the last half-century, however, interest in the writings of St Maximos the Confessor has picked up among western Christians. Two Roman Catholic theologians whose scholarship gave rise to this study were Dom Polycarp Sherwood and Hans Urs von Balthasar (who thoughts have profoundly influenced Pope Benedict XVI).

St Maximos the Confessor was a righteous man, courageously speaking against bishops and patriarchs who harbored schismatics or heretics, or who themselves sided against the Council of Chalcedon. When he was seventy, St Maximos assisted Pope Martin during the Lateran Council (649 AD; a local council) which the pope had convened to condemn the patriarch of Constantinople of monothelitism. (Monothelitism teaches that Christ had only one [divine] will, thereby denying his full humanity.) Pope Saint Martin I was later dragged from Rome and died in exile as the last martyred pope.

Concerning Rome, St Maximos wrote:

The extremities of the earth, and all in every part of it who purely and rightly confess the Lord look directly towards the most holy Roman Church and its confession and faith, as it were to a sun of unfailing light, awaiting from it the bright radiance of the sacred dogmas of our Fathers according to what the six inspired and holy councils have purely and piously decreed, declaring most expressly the symbol of faith. For from the coming down of the incarnate Word amongst us, all the Churches in every part of the world have held that greatest Church alone as their base and foundation, seeing that according to the promise of Christ our Saviour, the gates of hell do never prevail against it, that it has the keys of a right confession and faith in Him, that it opens the true and only religion to such as approach with piety, and shuts up and locks every heretical mouth that speaks injustice against the Most High. (source)

Like the Roman pope, St Maximos also suffered a martyr's death. Because of his efforts at the Lateran Council, St Maximos was arrested and tried several times and exiled. Finally, 13 years after the conclusion of the Lateran Council, because he was aligned with Pope St Martin I and would not recant, St Maximos was put on trial in Constantinople. During the trial, Pope St Martin I was posthumously anathematized and St Maximos was sentenced to exile. But before being exile, the right hand and tongue of this 82 year-old man were amputated so that he could not longer write or preach. He died shortly after he arrived in exile. (Sherwood, 27-28)

After an Hiatus...

...I have returned to the blogosphere. I was absent for various reasons, mostly having to do with parish duties and educational obligations (i.e., learning and teaching).

With my return, I've decided (for the time being and, again, for various reasons) to suspend the ability for readers to comment on this blog. I still appreciate whatever comments may be made--most of which prove helpful or stimulating to my thinking. So feel free to comment to me personally by sending me a direct email. Feel free to use this address: stjohnofkronstadt@gmail.com.

The Mystery of the Lord's Mercy

Since last Sunday we have heard, in clear and memorable words, about the treachery of Our Lord’s betrayal. We heard of His unjust condemnation by both the chief priests and Pilate. We have heard of the barbarity of His crucifixion. And we have heard of His death and entombment. Such events should not cause us grief, but great joy. For the Holy Spirit does not cause the holy evangelists to write such words so that we might fear God’s wrath, but so that we might see clearly, and firmly believe, and greatly rejoice in the Lord’s inexpressible mercy.

Let me be clear. You have not heard about a mercy that began when the Father sent His Son into the flesh. Rather, as you have heard today, this mercy begins in the beginning. It begins in the Lord’s love which calls the entire world and then us into existence. And the mercy continues in the Father offering man the world so that we might tend this world with tenderness, and thereby offer it back to Him in unending thanksgiving. Yet our ancestors ruined and marred what our Father lovingly made through His Word. But this does not cause our merciful Father to destroy all and say, “Never again.” Rather, in His mercy, He promises to redeem, to reclaim and to restore us—and, thereby, to make all things new again. As part of His plan, He cleanses the world by a great Flood. And then, as you have heard, in His mercy the Lord prefigures His climactic act by releasing His chosen people from the grasp of satanic Pharaoh, by pulling them dramatically through the Red Sea, and by pointing them to the Promised Land—which they will attain by the strength of the bread He gives, and by keeping His Word and walking in His commandments.

In these things, Our Lord shows that He has always been at work for the salvation of the world. In these things, Our Lord shows that His undying love for His world drives all that He does. And in these things, Our Lord shows that His mercy for us and to us endures forever. And that is good. For if we would believe that the Lord’s mercy begins only when His Son comes into the world, then we might also be tempted to believe that His mercy ends—or, at least, subsides—when His Son ascends into heaven.

Yet the reason we celebrate the mystery of Our Lord’s mercy is not so that we can look back and remember a time when the Lord had mercy, and then pray that someday that time might be repeated. Rather, we celebrate the mystery of Our Lord’s mercy so that we might know and remember, believe and take to heart that Our Lord continues to have mercy on us; that His resurrection has not faded; and that His mercy was personally directed to us when He wondrously resurrected us by submerging us in His Son’s Blood in the waters of Holy Baptism. But most of all, we celebrate the great mystery of Our Lord’s mercy so that we might not fear Our Lord’s wrath, but rejoice in and hold firmly and steadfastly to His mercy.


An excerpt from the sermon preached at the Great Vigil at Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Detroit.

Why Christ Arose

Christ did not rise so that we might live as we please; and choose our own path; and make our own way. Christ Jesus rose because we are incapable of raising ourselves. He rose because our self-makings end in death. And He rose because our promises to start over always fail.

In short, Our Lord Jesus died to put to death who we once were; and He rose to return us to who we are created to be. And who are we raised up to be? Children of the heavenly Father. Sons and daughters of God. And men and women who serve the Lord with gladness. But that is not all. We are also raised up by Our Lord to be brothers and sisters in; lovers of all men; and godly people who live not for ourselves but for one another.

Such living cuts against the grain. Such living is living against our former nature. For our habits enslave us in pride and selfishness. And our old ways addict us to things that are unreal, things that are really no help, and things that often lead to despair.

From these, Christ Jesus has released us. From these, He has delivered us. From these, He has set us free—both by His death, which destroyed the grip of sin and death; and by His resurrection, which gives us this new way of life and this new way to live. For Our Lord’s Resurrection breathes life into our life—both now and forever—because it breathes back into us a true, intimate, and full life with God in Christ

And if we are with God in Christ, then we are also bound together. For the glories of Christ’s resurrection are not offered, one by one, to each individual. Rather, Christ is risen so that we may live the new life together, in His holy catholic Church. This true Church is all those who receive, by faith, His wondrous resurrection; and who keep to that faith by remaining in communion with those bishops who rightly maintain the Father’s Word in the tradition of the holy apostles. For through them—that is, through these men to whom Christ first appeared, and who are the witnesses of His resurrection—to them, the Spirit of Christ was given; upon them the Spirit of Christ was breathed; and in them and their successors, the Spirit of Christ lives.

So the Lord arises to release us from our old selves; and also, to bind us together into His new self—the Self which is His churchly Body where, together, we are strengthened by the Spirit and, through Him, we earnestly await the entrance into the Father’s kingdom in our glorified bodies.

From the sermon for Easter Sunday (Resurrection Mass) preached at Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Detroit, 16 April 2006.