“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. There is nothing new under the sun.” -Ecclesiastes 1:9
Well, today is December 31, 2009, and it’s that time of year of again, New Year’s Eve. At this time of year it’s always good to reflect about the entire year and what we did in it.
As for me, it just makes me think that one year ago I was on a retreat with the youth in my diocese, and we were coming back to Pomona in the mid afternoon, then I was going to take a bus back home, which is very far from Pomona, and the busses ended up being full so I became stranded in Pomona. However, back at the church where we arrived there were many activities going on and a midnight liturgy, so glory be to God, I had a place to stay and it was an excellent way to start the New Year. I remember many choir groups went up and presented, and we sung Christian songs, and then the senior priest of the church led us in a heartfelt prayer starting a few minutes before midnight until about midnight, then I saw the date turn on my cell phone from December 31, 2008, to January 1, 2009. I liked seeing the number 2008, it was the year that I graduated from high school, but everything has its time, and we must use time wisely because we can never get it back. So we ended 2008 in prayer and started 2009 in prayer, and it was quite an event at the church, some churches aren’t even as packed on Easter as that church was on New Year’s.
Now comes the time for reviewing what actually went on in 2009. The first six months of 2009 were relatively peaceful, at least to me, and quiet, which is the ideal of the Christian life. Not many things went on there was just a good opportunity to focus on the Lord. But the last six months were horrible and it made me think about many of the problems in the world such as the recession in this country. All the problems we have in the world, especially this country, are because of a lack of virtue, specifically love towards God and towards people. The funniest thing I hear in this world is that people want peace and all the Christian virtues, but without Christ Himself. To want virtue without the One who made it is like wanting a light bulb to light up without electricity; it’s not going to happen. In order to have virtues like peace and love, we must know Jesus, otherwise, don’t expect to get the virtues. The recession in this country came as a result of people not really knowing Jesus and loving God, but by loving money. Greed is what caused this recession, greed on all parts, from many of the buyers and sellers of houses, to the CEO’s of big corporations, and banks lending people on interest only loans which is essentially gambling. These are just a few to name who are behind the problem, there are many, many more. But the fact that greed is one of the seven deadly sins has become fully realized to us in this past year.
What’s going on now reminds me of what Jesus said, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:9-12). And this exactly is what’s going on, the world hates us Christians, for no reason, even though it’s because of Christ, and Christians doing what He commanded, that we live the way we live today, in civilization. And the biggest problem in this country is that people fear each other with pathological fear, this is why many “will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.” So many people in this country have a weekly cycle of sin, go to work, cuss, gossip, complain, go home do it ten times more than at work because they feared those at work, get off on Friday and drink and do drugs, then on Saturday night party, and so on. Many people in this country don’t naturally love other human beings as they should, there is hatred and malice, the world is becoming a very dark place to live in, even in our own homes, this is what is meant when our Lord Jesus Christ said, “And because lawlessness [sin] will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Essentially, most people in this country don’t love one other, they only think “what will I get out of it,” which is selfishness, before doing any act appearing to be of love. This is why the number of spouses divorcing each other has become so high, the common statistic I have heard is 51%, but I have heard studies that suggest it might have climbed to 66%. Truly the world has become a much darker place and people are still playing in their sins, instead of repenting and turning to God.
But our Lord and Savior tells us right after, “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13), and He also tells us, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus Christ is our Hope, and in Him we are complete, without Him we are like a body without a head, we are useless that is, and can’t do anything.
Let us start following Him sincerely starting next year, or I should say tomorrow, and not even tomorrow, let us start following Him today, now, from this moment on. As St. Ignatius said, “It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be Christians.” If we do what this saying says, many of the troubles that we are in will end, and we will start preserving the creation of God, as is our responsibility, and we will bring many to Christ. Let us not be Christians by name, but by truth, faith, and deed.
Please Lord Jesus Christ, the afflictions of our hearts have been widened, bring us out of all our distresses.
So let us have our Joy and Peace restored to us in Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Joy and Peace. “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).
And glory be to our God and Savior both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas of Myra)
“And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” -Acts 20:35
The name Santa Claus is French for Saint (Santa) Nicholas (Claus actually being a modification of the last six letters of his name). The name Nicholas itself is Greek and it means “The Victory of the People.”
St. Nicholas of Myra was born in the latter half of the 3rd Century A.D. in Patara, Lycia (in what is today Turkey) to Theophanes and Nona, wealthy parents. He was the result of prayers by his parents to have a child because they were formerly barren. From his youth he had been educated in the Scriptures.
As time went on he entered a monastery and became a monk, and he had a vision that he would be ordained a bishop. In this vision he saw the Lord Jesus appear holding the Gospel adorned with jewels and St. Mary with the bishop’s vestments; this is one of the reasons that in his icon Jesus and Mary are portrayed this way. He became the bishop of the city of Myra.
St. Nicholas is known for his gift of giving, and one story of such giving is recorded among us. There was a rich man in the city of Myra who had three daughters and lost all his wealth. He thought to himself that there wasn’t going to be any way to get his daughters married so he was set on selling them as prostitutes to make money. God revealed to St. Nicholas what the man was thinking so he went by the window of the man’s house at night and threw a sack filled with gold and the man was able to give his first daughter in marriage. Then Nicholas repeated this again and the second daughter also got married. The man wanted to know who was doing these acts of kindness and charity for them so he was watching by the window and when the sack came in he went out immediately and found Nicholas. He thanked him for doing this because he brought the family out of poverty and prevented a life of sin from them. Nicholas told the man to give thanks to God, not to him.
St. Nicholas also saved three people from being unjustly executed. These three were unjustly condemned because the governor had been bribed. Nicholas went up courageously as they were about to be executed and held the sword from the executioners hand, he then rebuked the governor for dealing with them in that manner and the governor repented.
He was also present at the First Ecumenical Council which was held in Nicea in 325 A.D. He was arguing with Arius about the Lord Jesus Christ and His divinity and he wasn’t able to stop Arius in his words so he struck him in the face. Now when the bishops heard about this they defrocked (took off his bishop’s vestments and he no longer remained a bishop) him because this act is unacceptable for Christians even if the person is a heretic because the Lord taught us otherwise, and banned him from the rest of the Council of Nicea. Yet later that night, as they were asleep, many of the bishops saw the Lord holding a Gospel and St. Mary holding Nicholas bishop’s vestments and the Lord put it on Nicholas. This is the second reason Jesus and Mary are portrayed specifically over his right and left shoulders in the icon. After this the bishops returned Nicholas to the rank of Bishop and his vestments and knew that what Nicholas had done was not an act of wrath but of zeal for the Lord.
St. Nicholas also worked wonders among the people and he lived to be 80 years old.
Let us remember the real Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas) during this month and imitate his virtues. Glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
The name Santa Claus is French for Saint (Santa) Nicholas (Claus actually being a modification of the last six letters of his name). The name Nicholas itself is Greek and it means “The Victory of the People.”
St. Nicholas of Myra was born in the latter half of the 3rd Century A.D. in Patara, Lycia (in what is today Turkey) to Theophanes and Nona, wealthy parents. He was the result of prayers by his parents to have a child because they were formerly barren. From his youth he had been educated in the Scriptures.
As time went on he entered a monastery and became a monk, and he had a vision that he would be ordained a bishop. In this vision he saw the Lord Jesus appear holding the Gospel adorned with jewels and St. Mary with the bishop’s vestments; this is one of the reasons that in his icon Jesus and Mary are portrayed this way. He became the bishop of the city of Myra.
St. Nicholas is known for his gift of giving, and one story of such giving is recorded among us. There was a rich man in the city of Myra who had three daughters and lost all his wealth. He thought to himself that there wasn’t going to be any way to get his daughters married so he was set on selling them as prostitutes to make money. God revealed to St. Nicholas what the man was thinking so he went by the window of the man’s house at night and threw a sack filled with gold and the man was able to give his first daughter in marriage. Then Nicholas repeated this again and the second daughter also got married. The man wanted to know who was doing these acts of kindness and charity for them so he was watching by the window and when the sack came in he went out immediately and found Nicholas. He thanked him for doing this because he brought the family out of poverty and prevented a life of sin from them. Nicholas told the man to give thanks to God, not to him.
St. Nicholas also saved three people from being unjustly executed. These three were unjustly condemned because the governor had been bribed. Nicholas went up courageously as they were about to be executed and held the sword from the executioners hand, he then rebuked the governor for dealing with them in that manner and the governor repented.
He was also present at the First Ecumenical Council which was held in Nicea in 325 A.D. He was arguing with Arius about the Lord Jesus Christ and His divinity and he wasn’t able to stop Arius in his words so he struck him in the face. Now when the bishops heard about this they defrocked (took off his bishop’s vestments and he no longer remained a bishop) him because this act is unacceptable for Christians even if the person is a heretic because the Lord taught us otherwise, and banned him from the rest of the Council of Nicea. Yet later that night, as they were asleep, many of the bishops saw the Lord holding a Gospel and St. Mary holding Nicholas bishop’s vestments and the Lord put it on Nicholas. This is the second reason Jesus and Mary are portrayed specifically over his right and left shoulders in the icon. After this the bishops returned Nicholas to the rank of Bishop and his vestments and knew that what Nicholas had done was not an act of wrath but of zeal for the Lord.
St. Nicholas also worked wonders among the people and he lived to be 80 years old.
Let us remember the real Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas) during this month and imitate his virtues. Glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Being Social
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.” -John 13:34
Today it is so easy to be in contact with people than ever before. We can literally pick up the phone or go to the computer and talk to people who might be halfway across the world.
Being social is one of the greatest blessings, but can also be one of the greatest curses.
Sociality is a gift from God. God expressly saw that all His Creation was good except for one thing, that the human being was alone: “And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him’” (Genesis 2:18). So God made Eve for Adam, another human being, for him, comparable to him. And Adam responded by saying, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23). This is the holiest relationship; the Sacrament of Matrimony. It is the first human relationship, instituted by God and from it all other relationships come. We wouldn’t have brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, and all other relationships if it wasn’t for the Sacrament of Matrimony; the union of one man and one woman in Christ.
The first blessing of being social is that we grow strong in our faith. God did not give the revelation of Himself to one person at one time, but always to more than one. The Church was not born with only one person in it, but more than 120 believers (without the others who had believed in Jesus through His ministry) were gathered on the Day of Pentecost when the Promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. And through the Church we receive our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
When Jesus was asked as to what the greatest commandment was in the Old Testament, “Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:29-31) and “‘On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:40). It is interesting that Jesus says that loving one’s neighbor is like loving God. How can this be? God is infinite by nature and humans aren’t. How can they be compared? This is because unless one loves his neighbor (others) he cannot love God, because we can know that we love God only when we keep His commandments. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments … whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:3, 5). God created us, humans, and His plan for how we should deal with each other is in love. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). So unless we love one another as Jesus commanded us, we have no hope of ever being with God. These are some of the blessings of being social.
Now some of the curses of being social are hatred, gossip, malice, arrogance, envy and so on. People who have these problems exist even in the Church itself. And the curses are magnified when we deal with these people. These above characteristics have no part in love, and therefore cut themselves away from God, and those who live in these also cut themselves away from God.
It is easy to see gossip in any church, but where in gossip is it love to make fun of people and talk bad about them behind their backs for that sake only. Why do you talk about them badly? Don’t you also have the same problems? And if not the same, you have other problems that they can talk about and you won’t be happy when you find out that they are?
Malice is also common, which is tightly interconnected with hatred. When people bother you or hurt your feelings because they want to make themselves feel good.
And arrogance when we start to lose sight of our goal which is God Himself and our goal is now to do more than other people and we are puffed up and we think we are better than other people because we read the Bible more often than they do, or fast longer hours, or even fast at all, and do other spiritual activities. These activities then lose all their purpose and meaning because we have separated them from God and have now made them a means for our own gain. St. Augustine said, “Pride extinguishes love; consequently humility strengthens love; love extinguishes offenses.”
These above mentioned qualities are all very interconnected and result either from hatred or selfishness. Either way they are the result of putting aside the love of God from our hearts and putting the love of our self there instead.
Let us pray that God would grant us the greatest gift, love, and that we would live in it. And glory be to God both now and ever. Amen.
Today it is so easy to be in contact with people than ever before. We can literally pick up the phone or go to the computer and talk to people who might be halfway across the world.
Being social is one of the greatest blessings, but can also be one of the greatest curses.
Sociality is a gift from God. God expressly saw that all His Creation was good except for one thing, that the human being was alone: “And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him’” (Genesis 2:18). So God made Eve for Adam, another human being, for him, comparable to him. And Adam responded by saying, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23). This is the holiest relationship; the Sacrament of Matrimony. It is the first human relationship, instituted by God and from it all other relationships come. We wouldn’t have brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, and all other relationships if it wasn’t for the Sacrament of Matrimony; the union of one man and one woman in Christ.
The first blessing of being social is that we grow strong in our faith. God did not give the revelation of Himself to one person at one time, but always to more than one. The Church was not born with only one person in it, but more than 120 believers (without the others who had believed in Jesus through His ministry) were gathered on the Day of Pentecost when the Promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. And through the Church we receive our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
When Jesus was asked as to what the greatest commandment was in the Old Testament, “Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:29-31) and “‘On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:40). It is interesting that Jesus says that loving one’s neighbor is like loving God. How can this be? God is infinite by nature and humans aren’t. How can they be compared? This is because unless one loves his neighbor (others) he cannot love God, because we can know that we love God only when we keep His commandments. “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments … whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him” (1 John 2:3, 5). God created us, humans, and His plan for how we should deal with each other is in love. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). So unless we love one another as Jesus commanded us, we have no hope of ever being with God. These are some of the blessings of being social.
Now some of the curses of being social are hatred, gossip, malice, arrogance, envy and so on. People who have these problems exist even in the Church itself. And the curses are magnified when we deal with these people. These above characteristics have no part in love, and therefore cut themselves away from God, and those who live in these also cut themselves away from God.
It is easy to see gossip in any church, but where in gossip is it love to make fun of people and talk bad about them behind their backs for that sake only. Why do you talk about them badly? Don’t you also have the same problems? And if not the same, you have other problems that they can talk about and you won’t be happy when you find out that they are?
Malice is also common, which is tightly interconnected with hatred. When people bother you or hurt your feelings because they want to make themselves feel good.
And arrogance when we start to lose sight of our goal which is God Himself and our goal is now to do more than other people and we are puffed up and we think we are better than other people because we read the Bible more often than they do, or fast longer hours, or even fast at all, and do other spiritual activities. These activities then lose all their purpose and meaning because we have separated them from God and have now made them a means for our own gain. St. Augustine said, “Pride extinguishes love; consequently humility strengthens love; love extinguishes offenses.”
These above mentioned qualities are all very interconnected and result either from hatred or selfishness. Either way they are the result of putting aside the love of God from our hearts and putting the love of our self there instead.
Let us pray that God would grant us the greatest gift, love, and that we would live in it. And glory be to God both now and ever. Amen.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” -1 Chronicles 16:34
Today our country celebrates the holiday of Thanksgiving. Its origins lie in the early Christian settlers coming to this continent hundreds of years ago. We portrayed it every year in elementary school by dressing up as Pilgrims and Indians so that the story would always be fixed in our heads. We should take this holiday as an opportunity for thanking God for all that He has done.
In Church, for any liturgical gathering, we always begin with the Thanksgiving Prayer which starts off with, “Let us give thanks to the Beneficent and Merciful God.” And why is it that we give thanks to the Lord, because He has “covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto Him, spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour.” But we are supposed to also thank Him, “for every condition, concerning every condition, and in every condition” for these very same reasons and we must always remember that He gave us our life, both physical and spiritual, the greatest gift. So why is it that because of one or two things we shouldn’t thank him for the rest of the innumerable things he has done for us. We should thank Him for everything and every condition.
Thanksgiving glorifies God and causes us to come closer to Him. In this sense it is also a witness to God, because when people see that we actually live by what we preach it receives much more magnification and realization than just preaching principles. Thanksgiving should therefore also be an act of love. It should be a very high expression of that love, showing God that we appreciate what He is doing and that we are humbled by these experiences. As it is written that if it, “have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). Love is “that which is perfect” (1 Corinthians 13:10), and we must never forget that.
The Greek word for thanksgiving as used in the Bible is “eucharistos.” This then points us back to the Eucharist. The Eucharist is called so because before Jesus broke the bread and gave it to His disciples as His Body and gave them the cup of wine as His Blood giving the New Covenant, it says He gave thanks. Jesus giving Himself for us on the Cross and the Sacrament is our ultimate Thanksgiving that He has been merciful to us in His goodness as to give us eternal life and fellowship with Him, which is why in the Church’s hymns we say the verse, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34) so often.
So let us be like St. Paul and say with such conviction, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
Happy Thanksgiving and Glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
Today our country celebrates the holiday of Thanksgiving. Its origins lie in the early Christian settlers coming to this continent hundreds of years ago. We portrayed it every year in elementary school by dressing up as Pilgrims and Indians so that the story would always be fixed in our heads. We should take this holiday as an opportunity for thanking God for all that He has done.
In Church, for any liturgical gathering, we always begin with the Thanksgiving Prayer which starts off with, “Let us give thanks to the Beneficent and Merciful God.” And why is it that we give thanks to the Lord, because He has “covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto Him, spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour.” But we are supposed to also thank Him, “for every condition, concerning every condition, and in every condition” for these very same reasons and we must always remember that He gave us our life, both physical and spiritual, the greatest gift. So why is it that because of one or two things we shouldn’t thank him for the rest of the innumerable things he has done for us. We should thank Him for everything and every condition.
Thanksgiving glorifies God and causes us to come closer to Him. In this sense it is also a witness to God, because when people see that we actually live by what we preach it receives much more magnification and realization than just preaching principles. Thanksgiving should therefore also be an act of love. It should be a very high expression of that love, showing God that we appreciate what He is doing and that we are humbled by these experiences. As it is written that if it, “have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). Love is “that which is perfect” (1 Corinthians 13:10), and we must never forget that.
The Greek word for thanksgiving as used in the Bible is “eucharistos.” This then points us back to the Eucharist. The Eucharist is called so because before Jesus broke the bread and gave it to His disciples as His Body and gave them the cup of wine as His Blood giving the New Covenant, it says He gave thanks. Jesus giving Himself for us on the Cross and the Sacrament is our ultimate Thanksgiving that He has been merciful to us in His goodness as to give us eternal life and fellowship with Him, which is why in the Church’s hymns we say the verse, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34) so often.
So let us be like St. Paul and say with such conviction, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
Happy Thanksgiving and Glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
St. Ignatius of Antioch
“Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” -Mark 9:36-37
St. Ignatius of Antioch is one of the earliest Church Fathers that we have, having been born around 30 A.D. and martyred 107 A.D. There is a tradition that says that when Jesus was talking about the toddlers and they were coming to him, that St. Ignatius was one of them.
He was ordained as Bishop of Antioch by St. Peter the Apostle and he was very zealous for the Lord. This led him to be called Theophorus (God-Bearer).
He was arrested by the Romans because of his faith and was led to Rome to be martyred. On his way to Rome he stopped in Smyrna and strengthened the Christians there. He also wrote seven epistles, several of them from Smyrna and a couple from Troas. These sevens letters are the letters to the churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyrna, and to Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna. These letters were treasured as soon as they were written because St. Polycarp himself started collecting them right after they were written. These letters are still available in their original Greek today and have been translated into English.
St. Ignatius wanted to be martyred to the degree that he wrote to the Roman Christians in advance not to do anything to prevent it. He finally arrived in Rome after passing through Asia Minor and met with the Christians there. He was led into the arena, probably the Colosseum, and thrown to the lions who ripped him up and made his martyrdom complete. After he was martyred, he appeared to many Roman Christians to comfort them.
He is one of the Apostolic Fathers, which are the earliest group of Christians writing after the New Testament. His seven letters are included and are very deep for spiritual instruction. I have included a few of his sayings below for your benefit.
“Love is the way leading up to God.” -Epistle to the Ephesians 9
“It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be Christians.” –Epistle to the Magnesians 4
“Study, therefore, to be established in the precepts of the Lord and the apostles that so all things, whatsoever you do, may prosper both in the flesh and spirit; in faith and love; in the Son and the Father, and in the Spirit.” –Epistle to the Magnesians 13
“Do not be deceived, my brethren. If any man follows him that makes a schism in the Church, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If anyone walks according to a strange opinion, he agrees not with the passion.” -Epistle to the Philadelphians 3
“I endure everything because He Himself, who is the perfect Human, strengthens me.” –Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 4
“Let not a high place puff anyone up: for that which is worth all is faith and love, to which nothing is to be preferred.” –Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6
“Flee from divisions as the beginning of evils.” –Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 8
“Stand firm, as does an anvil which is beaten. It is the part of a noble athlete to be wounded, and yet to conquer.” –Epistle to Polycarp 3
St. Ignatius of Antioch is one of the earliest Church Fathers that we have, having been born around 30 A.D. and martyred 107 A.D. There is a tradition that says that when Jesus was talking about the toddlers and they were coming to him, that St. Ignatius was one of them.
He was ordained as Bishop of Antioch by St. Peter the Apostle and he was very zealous for the Lord. This led him to be called Theophorus (God-Bearer).
He was arrested by the Romans because of his faith and was led to Rome to be martyred. On his way to Rome he stopped in Smyrna and strengthened the Christians there. He also wrote seven epistles, several of them from Smyrna and a couple from Troas. These sevens letters are the letters to the churches of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyrna, and to Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna. These letters were treasured as soon as they were written because St. Polycarp himself started collecting them right after they were written. These letters are still available in their original Greek today and have been translated into English.
St. Ignatius wanted to be martyred to the degree that he wrote to the Roman Christians in advance not to do anything to prevent it. He finally arrived in Rome after passing through Asia Minor and met with the Christians there. He was led into the arena, probably the Colosseum, and thrown to the lions who ripped him up and made his martyrdom complete. After he was martyred, he appeared to many Roman Christians to comfort them.
He is one of the Apostolic Fathers, which are the earliest group of Christians writing after the New Testament. His seven letters are included and are very deep for spiritual instruction. I have included a few of his sayings below for your benefit.
“Love is the way leading up to God.” -Epistle to the Ephesians 9
“It is fitting, then, not only to be called Christians, but to be Christians.” –Epistle to the Magnesians 4
“Study, therefore, to be established in the precepts of the Lord and the apostles that so all things, whatsoever you do, may prosper both in the flesh and spirit; in faith and love; in the Son and the Father, and in the Spirit.” –Epistle to the Magnesians 13
“Do not be deceived, my brethren. If any man follows him that makes a schism in the Church, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If anyone walks according to a strange opinion, he agrees not with the passion.” -Epistle to the Philadelphians 3
“I endure everything because He Himself, who is the perfect Human, strengthens me.” –Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 4
“Let not a high place puff anyone up: for that which is worth all is faith and love, to which nothing is to be preferred.” –Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6
“Flee from divisions as the beginning of evils.” –Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 8
“Stand firm, as does an anvil which is beaten. It is the part of a noble athlete to be wounded, and yet to conquer.” –Epistle to Polycarp 3
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Holy Youth: St. Joseph the Righteous
“You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good.” -Genesis 50:20
St. Joseph the Righteous, as he is called in the Orthodox Church, is one of the earliest examples of Holy Youth, if not the earliest mentioned in the Bible.
Joseph is a great example of how God can use youth to do extraordinary things. We see this in that he was granted the gift of prophecy at the age of 17 when he had the dreams of the 11 sheaves bowing down to his, and also the dream of the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bowing down to him. Also he had the gift of interpreting dreams, which he used when he interpreted the dreams of the butler, the baker, and Pharaoh. But we are focusing on his virtues.
The first of Joseph’s virtues that we see is his obedience, specifically his obedience to his father. “And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come I will send you to them.’ So he said to him, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said to him, ‘Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.’ So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem” (Genesis 37:13-14). This obedience was very strong because what Jacob asked Joseph to do was not easy; it required a lot of walking, miles, and walking alone too. But Joseph answered, “Here I am.”
We also see that God was with him. In Genesis 39, when Joseph began his service to Potiphar, to whom he was sold, it says that “The Lord was with Joseph” or “with him,” four times. This brings us to a very important subject in Christianity which is synergy. Synergy is derived from a Greek word which means “working with.” Synergy in Christianity means working with God. This is as simple as it gets, without God we can do nothing! Jesus confirmed this when he told His disciples the night before He was crucified, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; FOR WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING” (John 15:4-5). In order to get to this level where God will work with us we must devote as much time as we can to prayer. Prayer that thanks and glorifies God, deep prayer in which God starts to reveal Himself to us and we see His works in the Creation more and more clearly, where we contemplate the wonderful things He has done, from the Creation itself, to virtue, to all the works of the Lord Jesus Christ, from the Incarnation to the Ascension.
Joseph had a very strong relationship with God and this is what caused the Lord to be with him. We see the words prosper or success come when it says “the Lord was with Joseph.” This comes before even the first psalm was written which says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly… but his will is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water that produces its fruit in its season, and his leaf shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1). This strong relationship Joseph had with God caused God to work with him (synergy), and this is what led to the rest of his virtues. Pope Shenouda III talks about synergy in his book Holy Zeal, talking about partnership with God, “Another example is that of an electric light and an electric current. You can find electric lights which are very beautiful, very powerful and of quite an exquisite type, which emit a light that gives people great joy to see. But in actual fact, such lights can only give light as long as they are connected to an electric current. If they are cut off from the electricity supply then they cease to work; their usefulness, beauty and attractive shape are worth nothing. So too will all your zeal be in vain if you are far away from God, who is the source of power.”
Joseph was also trustworthy. We see that Potiphar made Joseph the overseer of his house and everything in it because he “saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority” (Genesis 39:3-4). Even the unbeliever saw God working in Joseph, and because of this he exalted him to the position of overseer. We also see that “the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake” (Genesis 39:5). Synergy causes us to be filled with God’s Spirit as Christians and through this God’s power rests on everything we are entrusted with. Joseph’s trustworthiness also caused the keeper of the prison to have Joseph oversee the prison, and not just any prison, the prison of Pharaoh’s prisoners, “But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper” (Genesis 39:21-23).
This trustworthiness leads to faith in a person, and this faith will lead those who deal with us to believe in God because they will see us reflecting God who is the Most Trustworthy. It even led Pharaoh to commit all Egypt into Joseph’s hands and he confessed Joseph’s God saying, “And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.’ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, ‘Bow the knee!’ So he set him over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:38-43).
Joseph was also humble. When the butler and the baker asked Joseph if he was able to interpret their dreams he answered, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8) And also when Pharaoh told Joseph that he had heard that he interpreted dreams, Joseph answered, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (Genesis 41:16). We can learn from this because today, unfortunately, we tend to exalt ourselves instead of giving God the glory. We say, “I did this, I did that,” and such. An interesting thing, the word for “I” in Greek is “Ego.” Humility is not only making nothing of ourselves, but more than that it is giving God the credit and glory. Many times if we parade a virtue or talent we have, God might take it away to teach us a lesson, then we will know what we had after it is gone, but our eyes will be on God because then we will know that he was the one giving that talent or virtue to us.
Among other things Joseph was wise (40:38-39), which Pharaoh confessed was because God was with him. But the most important virtue which Joseph had was his forgiveness. Even after all the things that his brothers did to him; betraying him and selling him to the Ishmaelites and causing him to bondage for more than 13 years when he was a slave to Potiphar and later a prisoner, up until the time Pharaoh appointed him over Egypt, he forgave them. He said to them, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
Joseph is a great example of all the things we should be, even youth, because he kept his eyes on God all the time, which is why even after his brothers betrayed and sold him, he said what God did, which by far was greater, “to save many people alive.” And as it says in the Epistle to the Romans, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So we should pray to God and ask him to be examples to others that our youth isn’t a stumbling block, but a great chance to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ, like St. Paul exhorts St. Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
And glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
St. Joseph the Righteous, as he is called in the Orthodox Church, is one of the earliest examples of Holy Youth, if not the earliest mentioned in the Bible.
Joseph is a great example of how God can use youth to do extraordinary things. We see this in that he was granted the gift of prophecy at the age of 17 when he had the dreams of the 11 sheaves bowing down to his, and also the dream of the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bowing down to him. Also he had the gift of interpreting dreams, which he used when he interpreted the dreams of the butler, the baker, and Pharaoh. But we are focusing on his virtues.
The first of Joseph’s virtues that we see is his obedience, specifically his obedience to his father. “And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come I will send you to them.’ So he said to him, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said to him, ‘Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.’ So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem” (Genesis 37:13-14). This obedience was very strong because what Jacob asked Joseph to do was not easy; it required a lot of walking, miles, and walking alone too. But Joseph answered, “Here I am.”
We also see that God was with him. In Genesis 39, when Joseph began his service to Potiphar, to whom he was sold, it says that “The Lord was with Joseph” or “with him,” four times. This brings us to a very important subject in Christianity which is synergy. Synergy is derived from a Greek word which means “working with.” Synergy in Christianity means working with God. This is as simple as it gets, without God we can do nothing! Jesus confirmed this when he told His disciples the night before He was crucified, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; FOR WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING” (John 15:4-5). In order to get to this level where God will work with us we must devote as much time as we can to prayer. Prayer that thanks and glorifies God, deep prayer in which God starts to reveal Himself to us and we see His works in the Creation more and more clearly, where we contemplate the wonderful things He has done, from the Creation itself, to virtue, to all the works of the Lord Jesus Christ, from the Incarnation to the Ascension.
Joseph had a very strong relationship with God and this is what caused the Lord to be with him. We see the words prosper or success come when it says “the Lord was with Joseph.” This comes before even the first psalm was written which says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly… but his will is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water that produces its fruit in its season, and his leaf shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1). This strong relationship Joseph had with God caused God to work with him (synergy), and this is what led to the rest of his virtues. Pope Shenouda III talks about synergy in his book Holy Zeal, talking about partnership with God, “Another example is that of an electric light and an electric current. You can find electric lights which are very beautiful, very powerful and of quite an exquisite type, which emit a light that gives people great joy to see. But in actual fact, such lights can only give light as long as they are connected to an electric current. If they are cut off from the electricity supply then they cease to work; their usefulness, beauty and attractive shape are worth nothing. So too will all your zeal be in vain if you are far away from God, who is the source of power.”
Joseph was also trustworthy. We see that Potiphar made Joseph the overseer of his house and everything in it because he “saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority” (Genesis 39:3-4). Even the unbeliever saw God working in Joseph, and because of this he exalted him to the position of overseer. We also see that “the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake” (Genesis 39:5). Synergy causes us to be filled with God’s Spirit as Christians and through this God’s power rests on everything we are entrusted with. Joseph’s trustworthiness also caused the keeper of the prison to have Joseph oversee the prison, and not just any prison, the prison of Pharaoh’s prisoners, “But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper” (Genesis 39:21-23).
This trustworthiness leads to faith in a person, and this faith will lead those who deal with us to believe in God because they will see us reflecting God who is the Most Trustworthy. It even led Pharaoh to commit all Egypt into Joseph’s hands and he confessed Joseph’s God saying, “And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.’ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, ‘Bow the knee!’ So he set him over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:38-43).
Joseph was also humble. When the butler and the baker asked Joseph if he was able to interpret their dreams he answered, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” (Genesis 40:8) And also when Pharaoh told Joseph that he had heard that he interpreted dreams, Joseph answered, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace” (Genesis 41:16). We can learn from this because today, unfortunately, we tend to exalt ourselves instead of giving God the glory. We say, “I did this, I did that,” and such. An interesting thing, the word for “I” in Greek is “Ego.” Humility is not only making nothing of ourselves, but more than that it is giving God the credit and glory. Many times if we parade a virtue or talent we have, God might take it away to teach us a lesson, then we will know what we had after it is gone, but our eyes will be on God because then we will know that he was the one giving that talent or virtue to us.
Among other things Joseph was wise (40:38-39), which Pharaoh confessed was because God was with him. But the most important virtue which Joseph had was his forgiveness. Even after all the things that his brothers did to him; betraying him and selling him to the Ishmaelites and causing him to bondage for more than 13 years when he was a slave to Potiphar and later a prisoner, up until the time Pharaoh appointed him over Egypt, he forgave them. He said to them, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
Joseph is a great example of all the things we should be, even youth, because he kept his eyes on God all the time, which is why even after his brothers betrayed and sold him, he said what God did, which by far was greater, “to save many people alive.” And as it says in the Epistle to the Romans, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So we should pray to God and ask him to be examples to others that our youth isn’t a stumbling block, but a great chance to witness to the Lord Jesus Christ, like St. Paul exhorts St. Timothy, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
And glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Holy Youth: Saint John the Baptist
St. John the Baptist is a great example for us youth on how to lead our lives in virtue. Jesus bears witness of John saying, “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:28).
John the Baptist is the Forerunner of Jesus Christ as it says in the Book of Malachi the Prophet, “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me” (Malachi 3:1). His birth happened by a miracle, like that of Samuel the Prophet. It was announced to his father Zacharias by Gabriel the Archangel while he was in the Temple serving at the altar of incense. Gabriel told Zacharias about John saying, “He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:15-17). And afterward in the same chapter we see how he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb when he leaped in her womb for joy. And his mother was filled with the Holy Spirit afterwards.
From here we begin to see where his virtue lies, and that is in bearing witness to Christ. This great Saint’s focus is solely upon the Savior Himself. From the beginning, even while the two were in the womb, John the Baptist bore witness of Christ. When this Saint began his public ministry, he was no older than 30 years old, maybe even younger than that, and he was able to attract thousands to repentance. By this he was doing what was prophesied in the Book of Malachi which says, “and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6) and through this, by causing the hearts of the people to be virtuous they could be prepared to meet the Lord as Gabriel also prophesied, “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).
The next thing we see in John is that he recognized Christ when he saw Him. Jesus came to be baptized in the Jordan not because He needed repentance because He alone is without sin, but through His Baptism he set the way for our baptism by sanctifying the waters of Baptism and giving us the example for life. When He came to John, John immediately recognized Him and “tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him” (Matthew 3:14-15). Today it is so hard for us to hear the voice of God because of all the worries of the world and all the things we desire from it, but John who had spent all his life in the deserts until he was manifested to Israel, recognized Christ because he had spent a life of prayer in the deserts. Let us pray for this virtue of recognizing the Lord when He comes to us.
Out of this passage we also see that St. John the Baptist had the virtues of obedience and humility. Because he recognized Jesus when He came to Him, and knew that He was sinless and didn’t need baptism, He tried to prevent Him knowing that he should be baptized by Jesus, not knowing exactly what it was that Jesus was trying to fulfill, but knowing that this One who was standing in front of him was the Son of God and Lord of all, he baptized Him himself. And because of this virtue, it was granted to Him to witness the Theophany (Epiphany); when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove and remained upon Him, and God the Father spoke saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). If this one act of obedience alone granted John the Baptist to see this wonderful event, what else will we see and experience if we obey our Fathers of Confession when they advise about something in the faith?
After he fulfilled this first part of his ministry which he knew and applied to himself, citing the prophecy of Isaiah, “He said: ‘I am “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the LORD”’” (John 1:23), he began to lead people to Christ Himself, beginning with his two disciples, Andrew and John. After they heard John say “‘Behold the Lamb of God!’… they followed Jesus” (John 1:36-37). We could learn a lot from his virtue of evangelism. How many times are we afraid to share our faith with the people around us because we don’t know what they will do to us or how their reactions will be? But this wasn’t the end of his evangelism, there was more, and we see his humility come out even further afterward. John’s disciples came to him after a dispute began to arise, and they were worried that Jesus was baptizing and bringing all people to Himself. John answered them saying, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:27-30).
He also taught us repentance without which we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. He taught those who were just hearers to become doers of the word. This even got to Herod as it is written, “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly” (Mark 6:20). But hearing gladly is not enough as Jesus says, “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble” (Mark 4:16-17). And that is exactly what happened to Herod, he was afraid of his brother’s wife, whom he had taken unlawfully, she was like the thorns that the third group of seeds sown fell into, and he had put himself into the trouble by promising her daughter anything she wanted up to half the kingdom, and because of this fear of not keeping his word, he killed John the Baptist.
This brings us to the last of his virtues, the great love of God that he had. He became a martyr because he spoke the truth and those who heard it, namely Herod’s wife, whom he had taken unlawfully, didn’t like that he rebuked her for the unlawful marriage and taught repentance, so she had him imprisoned, then eventually killed through Herod. Martyrdom is the greatest expression of love for God, as Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). And Jesus who is God calls us friends (John 15:14-15).
Let us learn from the example of this great Saint, of whom Jesus bears witness and says, “He was the burning and shining lamp” (John 5:35). Let us emulate his focus on Jesus Christ. May his prayers be with us all and glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
John the Baptist is the Forerunner of Jesus Christ as it says in the Book of Malachi the Prophet, “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me” (Malachi 3:1). His birth happened by a miracle, like that of Samuel the Prophet. It was announced to his father Zacharias by Gabriel the Archangel while he was in the Temple serving at the altar of incense. Gabriel told Zacharias about John saying, “He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:15-17). And afterward in the same chapter we see how he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb when he leaped in her womb for joy. And his mother was filled with the Holy Spirit afterwards.
From here we begin to see where his virtue lies, and that is in bearing witness to Christ. This great Saint’s focus is solely upon the Savior Himself. From the beginning, even while the two were in the womb, John the Baptist bore witness of Christ. When this Saint began his public ministry, he was no older than 30 years old, maybe even younger than that, and he was able to attract thousands to repentance. By this he was doing what was prophesied in the Book of Malachi which says, “and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6) and through this, by causing the hearts of the people to be virtuous they could be prepared to meet the Lord as Gabriel also prophesied, “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).
The next thing we see in John is that he recognized Christ when he saw Him. Jesus came to be baptized in the Jordan not because He needed repentance because He alone is without sin, but through His Baptism he set the way for our baptism by sanctifying the waters of Baptism and giving us the example for life. When He came to John, John immediately recognized Him and “tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him” (Matthew 3:14-15). Today it is so hard for us to hear the voice of God because of all the worries of the world and all the things we desire from it, but John who had spent all his life in the deserts until he was manifested to Israel, recognized Christ because he had spent a life of prayer in the deserts. Let us pray for this virtue of recognizing the Lord when He comes to us.
Out of this passage we also see that St. John the Baptist had the virtues of obedience and humility. Because he recognized Jesus when He came to Him, and knew that He was sinless and didn’t need baptism, He tried to prevent Him knowing that he should be baptized by Jesus, not knowing exactly what it was that Jesus was trying to fulfill, but knowing that this One who was standing in front of him was the Son of God and Lord of all, he baptized Him himself. And because of this virtue, it was granted to Him to witness the Theophany (Epiphany); when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove and remained upon Him, and God the Father spoke saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). If this one act of obedience alone granted John the Baptist to see this wonderful event, what else will we see and experience if we obey our Fathers of Confession when they advise about something in the faith?
After he fulfilled this first part of his ministry which he knew and applied to himself, citing the prophecy of Isaiah, “He said: ‘I am “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the LORD”’” (John 1:23), he began to lead people to Christ Himself, beginning with his two disciples, Andrew and John. After they heard John say “‘Behold the Lamb of God!’… they followed Jesus” (John 1:36-37). We could learn a lot from his virtue of evangelism. How many times are we afraid to share our faith with the people around us because we don’t know what they will do to us or how their reactions will be? But this wasn’t the end of his evangelism, there was more, and we see his humility come out even further afterward. John’s disciples came to him after a dispute began to arise, and they were worried that Jesus was baptizing and bringing all people to Himself. John answered them saying, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:27-30).
He also taught us repentance without which we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. He taught those who were just hearers to become doers of the word. This even got to Herod as it is written, “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly” (Mark 6:20). But hearing gladly is not enough as Jesus says, “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble” (Mark 4:16-17). And that is exactly what happened to Herod, he was afraid of his brother’s wife, whom he had taken unlawfully, she was like the thorns that the third group of seeds sown fell into, and he had put himself into the trouble by promising her daughter anything she wanted up to half the kingdom, and because of this fear of not keeping his word, he killed John the Baptist.
This brings us to the last of his virtues, the great love of God that he had. He became a martyr because he spoke the truth and those who heard it, namely Herod’s wife, whom he had taken unlawfully, didn’t like that he rebuked her for the unlawful marriage and taught repentance, so she had him imprisoned, then eventually killed through Herod. Martyrdom is the greatest expression of love for God, as Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). And Jesus who is God calls us friends (John 15:14-15).
Let us learn from the example of this great Saint, of whom Jesus bears witness and says, “He was the burning and shining lamp” (John 5:35). Let us emulate his focus on Jesus Christ. May his prayers be with us all and glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.
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