Sunday of All Saints Are you ready to confess in the Lord? What is confession in the Lord? Priorities

Today, brothers and sisters, the Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday of All Saints, so it is appropriate that we would read a reading about what it is to be a saint. This Gospel is about the character of the saints. Of course there are many Gospels that describe holiness. This one is perhaps the best of all.

Now, the question that you should have for yourself is do you fit in the category of people that the Lord is describing, who are saints?

In order to be a saint, we must be holy “Saint” actually means “holy”. In fact, we are commanded to be holy. If we don’t become holy we have no part with Christ. Christ came to help us to become holy. He gave us the ability, but we must have the desire and the effort. We are not only called but also commanded to be holy. So to be a saint is to be holy. This is not the calling only of those holy ones we have on our walls, but it is the calling of every person….

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Sunday of All Saints, First Sunday after Pentecost. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven

“Everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children or lands for My Name’s sake, shall receive a hundred fold and shall inherit ever-lasting life. But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first.”

This describes in microcosm the life that pleases God… These readings contain not only the encouragement and this incredible joy that we should feel about the grace of God; they also contain a blueprint, a path of how to live. Not only how to live, but also how not to live. The promise is there, that also contains, very, very clearly for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, what happens when a man does not follow Christ…Our Lord said,

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”

This is a fundamental characteristic of righteousness, to confess the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do we confess Him? With our lips and with our actions; with our priorities and with our way of dealing with people; with what we say is important and what we show is important. There are some obvious things that you could have come to mind. We confess the Lord by showing that we care about Christianity, that we live our life in a moral way. The entire world has gone off unto Sodom and Gomorrah, but we cannot do this. We must have the courage to stand against it, to stand against every form of immorality and vice. This is the confession of Christ.

Now there is a new form of Christianity in name only. It’s been around now for quite a good many years. In fact, you really can see the beginnings of it in Apostolic times. But certainly, in the past few hundred years of the post enlightenment age, it has been codified that this is an acceptable way of life.

This way of life confesses Christ with the lips, but not with action, not with morality, not with the way we live, not with the way we order our lives. The new Christianity, from which the Orthodox are not immune, has a sort of dichotomy between belief and action. But there is no such thing. This is the great lie. Faith without works is dead. There is no dichotomy between action and belief. And if you do not live according to what you say you believe, then you are not confessing Christ. And we’ve been given everything we need to confess Him. We’ve been given the Holy Spirit, the comforter, Who lives within us if indeed we make a place for Him, if indeed we clean out our soul, and garnish it and sweep it out with effort and desire. And He will help us in all things. But if we do not live righteously we are not confessing Christ.

Now there are other practical things. In our modern society we are constantly in social situations. Are you afraid to make the sign of the cross before you have your dinner in a restaurant? If this is the case, you should weep and lament and pound your breast and ask God’s forgiveness for this, and do it the next time. Are you afraid among your friends or among your business associates or whomever else you come across in your daily walk of life to show your priorities and the Christian way of thinking, or do you change your priorities based upon the vicissitudes of your life, maybe so you are not in trouble, or so nobody thinks badly of you, or maybe just so that you are not inconvenienced? This is not confessing Christ, either. …

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Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council – Homily by Hieromonk Methodius

  The following is my translation of a homily from collection “Before the Eyes of God's Truth” by Hieromonk Methodius, which is on the web at http://www.holytrinitymission.org/books/russian/sermons_ierom_methodij.htm)   -Dn. Nicholas On the first Sunday after the Ascension of the Lord, the Church prayerfully remembers the god-bearing fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. We know from… Continue reading Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council – Homily by Hieromonk Methodius

Leavetaking of Pascha, Ascension, Aceticism,Disappointment, A/C progress, moving plans, Schedule change.

Dear Brothers and sisters of our parish family: Leavetaking of Pascha We leave behind using the greeting "Christ is risen!" today (unless of course, we are holy, and live totally in the resurrection, as did my patron, St Seraphim). The leave-taking of Pascha was today, and we served a joyous, short liturgy, just like on… Continue reading Leavetaking of Pascha, Ascension, Aceticism,Disappointment, A/C progress, moving plans, Schedule change.

Ascension of Christ. 11 Questions and Answers.

What significance does the event of the Ascension of Jesus Christ have for the Christian? We should understand why we celebrate any feast, and its inner meaning.

In the gospel reading for liturgy on the Ascension, two gifts are mentioned by Christ. One is given and one is promised. What are they? Comment on their importance and meaning for a Christian.

What mountain did Christ ascend from? How will this mountain be involved in another, cataclysmic event?

There is a significant occurrence in the Ascension story that can only be understood in the context of the church, and the absolute need for apostolic succession of bishops and priests. This occurrence, properly understood, should cause everyone who trusts his own interpretation of the bible outside of the context of a visible, authoritative and dogmatic church to flee from his false, individual understanding and seek out the church.

What is this occurrence? Comment on it, and try to specify other scriptures which point out or support this critical Christian teaching.

… and more questions and answers.

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Where thieves break through and steal. Our A/C has been stolen.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  (20)  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  (21)  For where your treasure is, there will your… Continue reading Where thieves break through and steal. Our A/C has been stolen.

Orthodoxy and Mission work – St Justin Popovich

St Justin Popovich, recently glorified by the Church of Serbia, is one of my favorite authors. He would not be among the favorites of many Orthodox, because he is blunt and truthful. He addresses here Missionary work. I have had discussions about this in the parish before, and I present his words here because they are provocative, and TRUE. So much that passes for missionary work and its sister “ecumenical dialogue” is insipid and lifeless because it is not ascetical (and therefore, cannot be truthful, because it cannot not know the truth).

Like any quote, it cannot address all aspects of a subject, but every word St Justin speaks should be taken to heart. I hope that some dialogue will result because of this post.

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