Redeeming The Time

The entire theme of Great Lent that we are attempting to return from our self-imposed exile is why the parable of the Prodigal Son is mentioned in our services throughout Great Lent. The last Sunday before Great Lent is called by many names, but the best is the “Expulsion of Adam from Paradise.” The fall of humanity began our exile. This was not imposed by God, but a natural result of passion and sin. During Great Lent we are trying to come back home, speak about this process the things we can do context up parable of the prodigal son. In the end of the homily, we also discuss something that we as parish can do, and any other parish can do, to help return from exile: Agree to pray with a prostration daily for each other, making a prostration for everyone with their name on an opt-in list. The beginning of our return from exile is that we acquire a sound mind, which is only possible if we pray and we love.

On the Sunday of the Last Judgment, we read about the last judgment from the Gospel of St. Matthew. This gospel clearly teaches that the sole criterion by which we are judged is whether or not we love. This is the task of the Christian who wants to become a true human being, to learn to love as God loves. We explore formal and informal ways to learn to love and how Great Lent should assist us greatly on opening a small crack in our heart, so that God would come in and teach us how to love, and we would be changed.

Fr. Seraphim Holland talks about how the Prodigal Son came to himself and took action to go back to the Father.

The most beautiful message of the parable of the Publican and Pharisee is that the publican went back to his house justified. We examine what this word means. The world doesn’t understand this word. The Christian does, because he knows two things. He knows repentance and compunction, which he couples with action, and he also feels the hand of God telling them it’s going to be okay. We discuss these two things that the publican did, and also compare this parable with the former publican Zacchaeus, who made wonderful promises on the day His Lord received his repentance, but then tomorrow came. Since it is also the Sunday of the commemoration of the New Martyrs of Russia, we discuss very briefly events in the lives of three of these martyrs, and how they illustrate something that we must do along with asking the Lord for mercy if we are to really know that everything is going to be all right.

Fr. Seraphim Holland shares about why Christ was baptized, what happens to us when we are baptized. We also talk about the passage through the Red Sea, which points to baptism. Two kinds of people "passed" through the waters, but only one group was delivered. It is the same with Christian baptism, which has power, and purpose. If we do not live according to its purpose, we will not be delivered. If the words of the Apostle Titus, read today, which we discuss in detail, resonate in our hearts, nothing will keep us from our purpose and our deliverance.

A discussion of what we should do AFTER a feast (this is much more important than what we do on the feast itself!), with a recounting of the historical events of Nativity and the visit of the wise men, and the virtues of Joseph the betrothed; James, the brother of the Lord; and David, the Prophet and King.

Today we’re hearing Fr. Nicholas Park’s presentation at the recent St. Herman Youth Conference, held in Cincinnati, Ohio.

When Jesus healed the 10 lepers of their physical leprosy, only one, a Samaritan, returned to thank and worship Him. There is an important lesson here. Complete healing is always a process, and depends on us. What must we do to be completely healed?

Look to the services of the church to understand theology and the feasts of the church year. Many celebrate the Nativity of the Savior, but do not know exactly what its purpose was, and what it accomplished. We look at two hymns from the pre-festal services, which describe not only what happened, but also challenges us to tell (by our actions) what we are going to do about it. “Once Mary, being with child by a seedless conception, was registered in Bethlehem with the aged Joseph as being of the seed of David. The time came for the birth, and there was no room in the inn; but the cave proved a delightful palace for the Queen. Christ is born to raise the image that fell of old. (Troparion of the Eve of the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord, in Tone IV) “What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, for Thou hast appeared on earth as a man for our sake? For every creature made by Thee doth offer Thee thanksgiving: the angels, a hymn; the heavens, a star; the Magi, gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; the earth, a cave;

The Apostles did not understand the Lord when He told them, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod," and thought it was because they had not taken any bread with them. He reminded them of the two mass feedings He has conducted, and asked them why they did not understand. That is an excellent question for us also. Why do we not understand? Why do we make bad choices? Why is their ignorance? The answer is simple: we do not love enough. We reference a saying by Mother Gavrila, which sets our bar: " He who truly loves does not feel tired."

On the Sunday before Nativity, we read in the epistle of Hebrews about the patience and obedience of the Old Testament fathers. Some call this passage the hall of faith. It could just as well be called the hall of patience. Without patience, and its sister and mother, obedience, there is no faith. Because of the incarnation, we can work out our salvation with patience.

The weekend before the celebration of the Nativity of the Savior, of course, Fr. Seraphim Holland speaks about the Incarnation. God does things differently than us. He reacts to sin and pride and all the rest differently than we do. Today, we read a psalm that had the phrase “render the proud their due.” We have a terrible phrase, that says “I hope he gets what’s coming to him.” God also wants us to get what’s coming to us, according to His desire. Therefore, Jesus became the God-man, to render the proud their due, that is that we would learn to be humble said we can become perfect and know Him. The psalm later mentions how He does this. Therefore, although it might not appear to be, this Psalm in a spiritual way is about the Incarnation.

There is a deeper meaning to the words of Jesus to the Pharisee when he sat and ate dinner with him. He told him that he should never invite people only to get a reward from them. Everybody knows this. But do we do other things for people, expecting some sort of reward, not in terms of money or some material thing, but something? For a priest and any Christian, it is hard to encounter people for whom you do things, but they do not respond as we wish them to respond. The spiritual meaning of our Lord’s words is that the only goal we should have for any human being is that we love them, and if we do that then we are completely successful, no matter what they do in response to our love. This is very simple, and not so easy. We also mentioned St. John the Almsgiver, whose day it is, who exemplified this virtue of which we are speaking.

he Lawyer asked Jesus "Who is my neighbor?" and He answered this horrible question with the parable of the Good Samaritan. A better question, and the one that Jesus answered (which included the question about the neighbor, and much more) is "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4). This parable describes the incarnation, and who is man, and who he will become, and why. We have no need to answer any questions about "Who is our neighbor?" if we understand and live according to this parable.

We will never find something if we search were it is not. The world searches for assurance, happiness, peace, where it is not. We reference a recent article a young man who searched for meaning in his life in the wrong place, and ended up mutilating his body, and how is case is typical for most people, not in the exact details, but in the spiritual error. The opening of the epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians included this statement: “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.” Where do we get this assurance? It is a critical question in our day. The mind and heart of St Paul, expressed with brilliance and affection in the first few verses of his introduction, together with the Gospel read during the liturgy (Luke 12:13-15, 22-31), teaches us the only path that will led to “much assurance.”

Does the Bible teach about Holy Communion? Fr. Seraphim Holland examines the clear teaching in John Chapter 6. He talks about signs, and symbols, and controversy about the Holy Eucharist, which is directly addressed by Jesus, the progression that must be present in the spiritual life, and what to do about the mundane, and how to work the works of God. Everything is important.

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus gives us an opportunity to talk about how self-indulgence kills the soul, and what Orthodox asceticism really is, and very importantly, God will help us no matter what we encounter, and we must always do what we can do. We will not be held responsible for not doing the things that we are unable to do but God will definitely hold us responsible for doing the things that we can do. The rich man was lost because he did not do what he could do quite easily for the beggar Lazarus.

The Gospel detailing the raising of the son of the widow of Nain and celebration of St. Jonah of Manchuria occurred on the same Sunday. Fr. Seraphim Holland explains important points of the Gospel, of which the most important is that Jesus touched the bier and they stood still. We must learn how to touch others since Jesus touches us, and the life of St. Jonah is an excellent example for us to follow.

Why do we follow the Golden Rule? It is because of love. God loves, and so we, being made in the image of God, in attaining His likeness, love. There are stories of extravagant love in the lives of the saints. We explain why and how we read the lives of the saints, and then tell some of these stories of extravagant love, including events that have happened in our time. Some of the saints mentioned are St Paulinus, St Thomais of Lesvos, St Paisios of Mount Athos, and St. Irene Myrtidiotissa.

Fr. Seraphim Holland shares the difference between the responses of Zacharias when he was told that he and his wife would bear John the Baptist, and Mary the Theotokos, when she was told that she would bear Jesus Christ as a virgin. In the midst of explaining this, we see it is clear that we should never look for a sign, and we also talk about deception and how we should react when we see an angel, and that Satan can never perfectly mimic holiness. There is one personal anecdote at the end when someone who loved my son +Daniel looked for a sign and I’m very glad she did. So, signs may be good, but we should not look for them.