Tag: Pastoral Notes

Dear Friends in Christ,

Most prayers of the Orthodox Church begin with the following prayer:

Heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who Art everywhere present and fillest all things, O Treasury of blessings and Bestower of life, come and dwell within us, and cleanse us from all stain, and save our souls, O Good One.

The only exception is that we do not pray this prayer between the great feast of Pascha and Pentecost, because during this time we commemorate Christ’s Resurrection continuously, recall his post-resurrectional appearances, His Ascension, and His promise to send the Holy Spirit when He was no longer with them.

As with many of the prayers which are commonly said, we often rattle them off without considering their deeper meaning. One important reason though that prayers such as these are so common is that the Holy Fathers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, thought it necessary to repeat them frequently so they would “sink in” over time. Indeed, after such prayers have become ingrained in us, it is often the case that suddenly we contemplate a word, a phrase, or some aspect of the prayer that we had not considered before.

This prayer is directed toward the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity. We learn from the prayer that the Holy Spirit is the Heavenly King, which follows from His being God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son. We also see that he is everywhere present and filling all things, and that he bestows blessings and gives life; without His presence, life would wither away, and this world would cease to exist. In our times of feeling down, when we wonder where God is in our life, we should recall that if God were not constantly willing for us to be alive, we would cease to exist in an instant. The very fact that we are alive and moving is by God’s will and intervention, and He is present with us always.

We ask the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within us and to cleanse us from all stain. For those outside the Church, God works from without; in other words, He reaches out to us, allowing us to come into situations that will benefit our soul and lead us to salvation (whether we think of these situations as “good” or “bad” at the moment they occur, we know that all things work together for our salvation). He gives blessings, responds to prayers, and stands with them.

However, for the Orthodox Christian, the Holy Spirit has entered into His soul, and works from within, by virtue of his chrismation. While the non-Orthodox Christian may be forgiven for the individual sins which he repents of, at the Orthodox Christian’s baptism, chrismation, and at each sincere confession, all of his sins removed completely, blotted out, and forgotten, and indeed his sinful condition is reversed gradually as he becomes more and more godly. Grace for the Orthodox Christian is not a temporary, outward favor, but an internal and continuous flow, raising him above the natural state of life, and allowing him to live in a state of anticipation of the Resurrected life of eternity. We see this in the spiritual gifts that Orthodox Christians often exhibit, especially in the life of the saints. Martyrs exhibit great patience, the unmercenary saints are given healing powers, some elders can guide us through clairvoyance, and others are given great counseling talents to reconcile enemies.

We see that the Holy Spirit saves our souls. Salvation is not a one-time event, given to the sinner at the moment that he says a certain prayer accepting Christ, as some theorize. Accepting Christ and His work is the first stage in a process of becoming God-like through the grace of the Spirit. When we come to judgment, will we be full of the Holy Spirit, or will we have let Him go away through negligence or even have pushed Him away by backsliding into sinfulness? We are given so much grace that we can become God-like, but the flipside is that we will be judged on whether we allow that to happen, and how far we take the gift. We should always recall the parable of the talents, where the man who buries the coin entrusted to him is condemned, whereas the two men who multiply the coins through investing are praised. We cannot sit on the treasure and squander the opportunities given to us.

I will close by remarking that this prayer reveals that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, and the Spirit of Truth. God comforts us and nurtures us, but sometimes this causes us to have to confront ourselves, our lives, and our actions in a very honest way. This is often a painful process, but we are liberated after we go through it. The comfort offered to us is then permanent, a confidence that endures and refines us, instead of a temporary “fix” or a “feel good moment.” How often we seek fixes and feel good moments, the feedback of the friends we know will agree with us, and then as soon as we sink back, we seek it again in a never-ending cycle. But the Holy Spirit will help us to overcome our shortcomings and blocks, and cause us to grow. Let us endure temporary suffering in return for eternal comfort!

O Holy Spirit, come and save us!

In Christ,

Fr. Anastasios

Dear Friends in Christ,

Holy Week is fast approaching, and Great Lent 2012 will conclude before we know it. This year, we began celebrating the Akathist to the Theotokos (Hairetismi) each Friday night. When I was not able to make it to Greenville, the parishioners came together and prayed it as a lay-led service, which is so very encouraging to me. Our faith must be owned by each and every one of us! Thanks to everyone who made this possible.

During Holy Week, we pray the service of the Bridegroom Matins on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings. The highlight of this service is the singing of the hymn:

Behold, the Bridegroom cometh at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching: and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy, holy, holy, art Thou, O our God. Through the Theotokos, have mercy on us.

This hymn refers to the Gospel passage found in Matthew 25:1-13:

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

The Bible is full of similar warnings about the end of time and the Second Coming of Christ. It is clear that none of us know the time when He will return; every attempt to predict His return has been thwarted and the would-be prophets shamed. Because we do not know when the Lord will return, we should be vigilant and prepare ourselves.

Besides a reference to the end of time, however, this parable has meaning in our individual lives, for all of us will die one day, and we “know not the day nor the hour” of our departure. Some of us may live to a ripe old age, while others may suffer some tragedy. The first year of our mission in Greenville, we lost two friends; an elderly man and a middle-aged but relatively young man, both unexpectedly. The one outlived his wife, while the other was outlived by his own mother.

Knowing this, however, most of us continue to sin! We compartmentalize ourselves, so that we can shut off our conscience and avoid thinking of the consequences of our actions. The Bridegroom service—which is repeated four days in a row—helps to reinforce the truth about what is to come; it confronts us and calls us to prepare. The Scripture parable that serves as its basis shows us that we must prepare for the coming of the Lord with as much fervor as we prepare for the worldly pursuits which sustain our bodies. How many of us work long hours, encourage—even compel—our children to study and become successful in their careers, and yet we do not insist on our own preparation nor do we teach our children that such preparation is essential to the Christian life? Will Judgment Day catch us by surprise?

The good news is that we can turn away from sin now and get back on track. While we still have life in our bodies, there is still time to repent and return to God! The first step toward this goal is to increase our participation in the Divine Mysteries, such as Holy Communion and Confession. If we do this regularly, we will not depart from this world unprepared, and in our life here we will begin to experience God’s grace in all its glory, as we witness a transformation from natural man to child of God.

This is one reason why it is essential for Orthodox Christians to attend Church each and every time there is a service, as much as is possible; while it is true that “God is everywhere,” the Holy Mysteries can only be found at Church. We only have a limited amount of time to grow as Christians, and we can never know for sure if there will be a “next Sunday.” Such sentiments are not intended to be morbid, but rather to give an honest presentation of the facts and exhort all to prepare.

Let’s not take for granted that there will be a next time, for we simply cannot know what tomorrow will bring. Let us store up oil like the wise Virgins, so we are prepared for the Lord when He comes for us. If we do, then we shall enter into the Bridal Chamber of Heaven and live with Christ forever.

In Christ,

Fr. Anastasios

Dear Friends in Christ,

2011 drew to a close here in Greenville, and on a very positive note as we welcomed several new people who have begun to attend regularly. This builds upon the growth we had already experienced this year, making 2011 our best year yet! It’s a testament to all of your dedication, and I am blessed to be pastoring such a great group of people.

Late in December 2010, we moved in to our new building, which we have worked hard to maintain and to beautify. At Pascha this year, we saw twice the numbers as 2010. We had our first parish picnic in August, at which we hosted members of the community beyond our own parish as well, we had several extremely large turnouts at our clothing giveaway, during which hundreds of needy people were helped, and we made it on to the news twice! We baptized four people in Greenville and also my own newborn daughter Sophia, and we have four more people preparing for baptism at present here in Greenville (and two more at my chapel community in Raleigh!) We’ve seen both growth in numbers and spiritual growth in our own lives, and we are really excited to find out what 2012 has in store!

As I did last year, I won’t be speaking about personal New Year’s Resolutions in this message. You all have heard a lot about this topic already, and we know that most of those resolutions do not come to pass, anyway. Instead, I want to issue “Fr. Anastasios’s 2012 Pastoral Challenge” which will help us all continue to grow personally, and as a parish. The following four challenges (five for those of you who attend infrequently!) are not overly complicated, nor are they revolutionary—as Orthodox Christians, they are things we should be doing anyway regularly—but sometimes it helps to have a focus and a goal, and to reflect, so with that in mind I have developed my challenge.

Personal/Family Prayer Devotional. All good works begin with prayer. We pray at Church, and we should be praying our daily prayers. But do we ever go beyond the call of duty, beyond what is “required”? In 2012, I would like each of you to commit to praying a devotional service once a month, whether it be a canon or Akathist to Our Lord, His Holy Mother, or one of the saints. Devotional prayers are often more personal in nature, tender in composition, evoke a sense of connection with the individual being prayed to, and garner for us great blessings. The more that we pray personally and as a family, the more we will live in harmony with our neighbors and will help our parish grow as well. There is a clear link between prayer and our parish’s well-being.

Increase in Knowledge. Some of us know a lot about our Orthodox faith, while others have a basic understanding. What we all share in common is a need to delve deeper. There is an ocean of material available to us, which could never be fully consumed in this lifetime. Yet each small measure that we put in is repaid greatly. We do not seek to grow in knowledge just for the sake of being smarter, but rather education is a path to greater faithfulness. Ignorance of the faith can lead to spiritual problems, while time spent learning leads to deeper faith. In 2012, I would like to challenge each of you to read two books: one saint’s life, and one historical book which addresses some aspect of the Orthodox Church in history. I am available to make suggestions and to lend books!

Evangelism. What’s the point of receiving all of these great blessings, if we don’t put them to good use? Let’s not keep this great treasure a secret. I frequently preach on outreach and the need to bring others to Christ and especially His Church, and we should all be sharing our faith with everyone who will listen. In order to focus our effort, however, I would like everyone to commit to inviting (and bringing if it will facilitate it) at least one person to Church this year. A family member, a friend, a neighbor, or someone we meet in our day-to-day life. Pamphlets about the Church are available in the vestibule area, and further titles will be produced throughout the year. They are always available for you to take and use.

Greater Integration. Our parish does not exist as an island, but is part of one diocese (a network of parishes under our bishop, Metropolitan Pavlos), which in turn joins the other dioceses as the one local Church of Greece, which in turn with the Russian and other Orthodox Churches forms the one, true Church of Christ. Some of us have never seen another parish or met anyone else from one of our other parishes. In 2012, let’s bring about greater integration of our parish with others. In the Fall, there will be another Youth Conference, and I encourage all the families with children to start planning now. If finances are a problem, we can plan a fundraiser at the Church. For those without families, perhaps on a vacation, make an attempt to attend another parish. For those who cannot travel, connect online to members of our Church and perhaps volunteer for one of our Metropolis-wide initiatives.

Finally, an extra one for those of you who don’t attend regularly: The Once a Month Challenge! Now, we should all be attending liturgy every time it is celebrated. Some of us have circumstances which interfere with that. There are legitimate reasons, but there are also not-so-legitimate reasons. “I’m busy” doesn’t cut it! If we are to have time for the Church, we must budget that time just like we would a doctor’s appointment or a trip to the grocery store. We all go shopping for food, but do we neglect to go “shopping” for the bread of life, which is only available at the Church? None of our New Year’s Resolutions matter one bit if we never attend Church. So to get started, for those who have frequent difficulty coming to liturgy, instead of focusing on coming every week, let’s commit to come at least once a month in 2012. Once we are used to coming, we will want to come so much that the other weeks will fall in to place.

As 2012 progresses, let’s take these four (five) challenges seriously, and keep track. I guarantee that the more we do, the more that God will bless our parish, and we will see the results in more growth, more harmony, and more opportunities. Given how great 2011 was for us, I can’t even imagine what will happen in 2012!

God bless you all!

In Christ,

Fr. Anastasios

Dear Friends in Christ,

Over the Thanksgiving break, I heard about fights breaking out in stores as shoppers vied to get the best deals on merchandise on so-called “Black Friday.” Below are two excerpts, one locally in the Kinston area of Eastern Carolina, and the other from across the country in California:

Kinston, North Carolina, United States, AD 2011:

People waiting in line at the Kinston Walmart quickly found themselves covering their face after police shot pepper-spray into the air…“He was raining [pepper spray] over the whole crowd so that it would rain down on their heads. Some got on my granddaughter. When I was doing that kind of work, we would have never done that, not in a store like that,” said Jackson…Though Jackson was charged with disorderly conduct, cell phone video shot shortly after the crowd was pepper-sprayed shows Jackson being anything but disorderly.

http://www2.wnct.com/news/2011/nov/25/3/pepper-spray-used-kinston-wal-mart-ar-1645712/

Los Angeles, California, United States, AD 2011:

Los Angeles police Saturday said they have not yet decided whether to seek charges against a woman who doused a crowd of Thanksgiving night shoppers with pepper spray at a Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch…

Investigators declined to speculate Saturday whether the woman, described only as a Latina in her 30s, brandished the spray because she felt threatened by the crowd of jostling shoppers or to gain an advantage so she could grab an Xbox game console that was on sale.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/lapd-no-decision-yet-on-charges-in-walmart-pepper-spraying.html

Black Friday is the start to the Christmas shopping season, so presumably some of those who were engaged in disorderly conduct were attempting to purchase gifts, although there were undoubtedly many there seeking cheap deals for their own wants. For a refresher, let’s take a look at what happened on the first Christmas Day, over 2000 years ago:

Bethlehem, Judea, Roman Empire, AD 1:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth be peace. Today doth Bethlehem receive Him Who sitteth with the Father forever. Today the angels glorify, as worthy of God, the babe that is born, shouting, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth be peace, and goodwill among men.

Since Thou art the God of peace and the Father of mercies, O Lover of mankind, Thou didst send to us the great Messenger of Thy mind, granting us Thy peace. Therefore, have we been led aright to the light of divine knowledge, glorifying Thee as we come out of darkness.

—Hymns from the Orthodox Service of the Nativity of Christ

God became man—a baby, at that—as an act of utter condescension, in order to bring peace, mercy, and light to us humans. And yet some of us celebrate His birth by disturbing the peace of those around us and showing no mercy to others. While I do believe that things are gradually getting worse in our society, I also know that the seeds of this rebellion were planted in previous generations; while perhaps less frequent, there have always been instances of humans mistreating each other for such petty reasons.

In fact, all humans harbor sinful passions which, left unchecked, give birth to sin, and lead to death. We cannot solve this problem ourselves, but must be born again of water and the spirit, and put on Christ, in order to experience the light, peace, and mercy that he offers. We can’t rely on being “spiritual” or being “a good person” because even good, spiritual people have committed sins which separate them from God’s peace and from their fellow humans. The answer lies outside of ourselves. This also means that we can’t do it from the comfort of our own home, as salvation occurs in community, not in isolation.

This Christmas season, let’s take a serious look at Christ on His own terms, and if we see that our lives do not reveal His presence, let us give ourselves over to Him without reservation. If you are not sure how to make this happen, please don’t hesitate to contact me. If you have not attended our Church previously, we will be happy to welcome you on your first visit.

In Christ,

Fr. Anastasios

Dear Friends in Christ,

Four years ago this month, Bishop Christodoulos came to Raleigh and served the first liturgy at the Chapel of St. Mark the Evangelist. A half a year later, I was ordained a priest, and our parish here in Greenville was also established.

At the liturgy, the bishop gave a sermon which certainly was not designed to remain in the confines of our comfort zones. Looking out the window of the chapel at the trees whose leaves were changing colors, whose green leaves were being replaced by gold, red, and orange hues, he remarked that we would not see the leaves change colors if Adam had not brought death into the world. Every time we see the leaves changing colors, we are seeing death and are confronted with the fall of man, he remarked.

While some remarked afterward (somewhat exaggeratedly!) that they would no longer be able to enjoy Autumn the same way again, the sermon impacted me in a profound way. I realized that something that many consider to be a great thing of beauty is actually tied to the greatest tragedy of man: bodily death. The Orthodox Church teaches that death was not established by God and is not a punishment afflicted on man, but rather is the direct consequence of man’s sinful nature and fall. Death reigned supreme through the ages, as we can see in the Old Testament, where everyone, whether righteous or evil, went to Hades (Sheol), a land of shadows and separation from life. To deliver us from this condition, Christ became incarnate, and after suffering on the Cross, he descended into Hades to liberate the captives and deliver them into the Heavens. The icon of the Resurrection depicts Christ pulling Adam and Eve out of their tombs, and death personified is crushed under his feet.

Yet this event took place 2000 years ago—how do we participate in it now? The Bible tells us:

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection (Romans 6:3-5).

Just as all of us are born into this fallen world and are subject to death because of the actions of our forefather, so likewise though the actions of Christ can the effects of death be undone in us. To participate then, we must be born again; we cannot save ourselves by good works, since our nature is fundamentally damaged. The only remedy is a new birth: “Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Notice here that no distinction is made between belief and action, between spiritual and physical; one must place his faith in Christ, and he must be baptized in water, in order to be born again.

Baptism then is not a symbol as some non-Orthodox Churches teach, but an actual participation in the saving events of 2000 years ago. To see it as a mere symbol is to intellectualize it, to fundamentally shift the meaning of faith from participation in God’s very life to an internalized, mental acceptance of factual data. The important aspect becomes the acceptance of Christ, and all the events that follow such as baptism are seen as symbolic rituals that manifest a salvation already present. Baptism becomes an ordinance instead of a sacrament, something done out of obedience because Scripture says to do it, but which does not have any real intrinsic value.

In this latter model, salvation moves from being a process of restoration of the original nature of man and his transformation into a bearer of Divine Grace through participation in the Divine Mysteries of baptism, the Eucharist, marriage, anointing, etc. to the acceptance of Christ’s saving act as an internal, mental act, a surrender of the will, which then accounts the person “covered” by Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross in an act reminiscent of a bank transaction. Such a man is still intrinsically a sinful being, ontologically the same, but now God the Father sees him through a different lens, as it were. Martin Luther once remarked rather crassly that man is like a pile of dung, only in Christ now this pile is covered by white snow. The Orthodox Church rejects this dim view of the effects of salvation and proclaims that through baptism and the other Holy Mysteries (Sacraments), we actually participate in God’s Grace and are transformed, not just accredited as being righteous while fundamentally remaining the same—getting off the hook for the consequences of our sins, but nothing more. (Of course, Western Christians believe in a sanctification process that happens after one is saved, but a contrast between this and the Orthodox view is outside the scope of this message).

Yet we still die physically, even after being baptized. How then should we view the fact that we are no longer under death’s hold? The answer is that now when we die, if we die in Christ, we enter a state of blessedness, awaiting the Last Judgment and the restoration of our bodies, at which point we will be able to enter the Heavenly glory fully. Having this hope in us, we no longer fear death, because it is a mere temporary separation, and we have the ability to live our lives boldly. The early Christians gladly accepted martyrdom, understanding that they would go to be with Christ, and not to the gloom of Hades. Those who die in Christ are still part of the Church, which as the Body of Christ exists in Heaven and on Earth. We are all one body, all are aware of each other and our prayers affect one another.

In this new reality, the changing leaves are no longer just a symbol of death, but point to the renewal that will come in Spring, when the green will return. Each spring is a mini-Resurrection, a restoration of life. The Fall and Winter no longer symbolize a descent into Hades, but rather a temporary rest. We can thus find beauty in something that was formerly horrific. We can see the aging process and reflect on the cycle of life without fear, knowing that all things will be restored.

If you are reading this message and have not placed your faith in Christ, or perhaps once believed but have fallen away, now is the time for you to return, so that when Spring arrives and we celebrate Christ’s Resurrection, you can celebrate as well this new life. In my ministry, I have seen how conversion and baptism changes people’s lives, having performed numerous baptisms in my three years as a priest. Faith in Christ and the ensuing life of participation in the Grace-bearing sacraments of the Church can work the same transformation in you.

In Christ,

Fr. Anastasios

Dear Friends in Christ,

October is upon us already! The Fall season has begun, and the temperature is finally starting to drop here in North Carolina. September was a busy month, with the feast days of the Nativity of the Holy Theotokos (our parish feast) and the Holy Cross, along with the secular holiday of Labor Day. But those days have passed, and now we begin to prepare for Thanksgiving, the Nativity Fast, and the “Holiday Season,” hoping to accomplish all of our resolutions by the end of the year.

Nestled in October is the feast day of Saints Cyprian and Justina (October 2/15). Early martyrs, they contested sometime in the mid-third century. Their story is remarkable; Cyprian was a pagan sorcerer, while Justina was a pagan maiden who, having learned of the truth of Christ, converted and succeeded in bringing her parents to Christ as well. She endeavored to live a life of chastity and to remain unmarried, but she attracted the unwanted gaze of a local wealthy youth. He enticed Cyprian to perform magic to attract Justina to him.

Amazingly, although Cyprian was able to engage in all sorts of dark arts, he could not succeed in coercing Justina to succumb. Asking the demons why he failed, they remarked that it was because Justina signed herself with the Cross. Cyprian realized that the power of demons was nothing compared to Christ, and in a dramatic gesture, burned his magical books in front of the local bishop before being baptized. Eventually, he became a bishop, Justina a nun, and both were martyred for converting many to Christ, probably in the year AD 268.

In our present day, under the influence of science and rationalism, most people have ceased practicing outright sorcery (the rise of neopaganism notwithstanding), but magical thinking continues, often with a thin “scientific” veneer. The demons continue their work of assisting man to live autonomously and without faith in God, adjusting their methods to the times by taking a more subtle role in this age of skepticism. In this message, I will briefly cover four ways that people engage in magical thinking today.

Like Attracts Like. Made popular by books such as The Secret, New Thought is a belief system that teaches that reality is a manifestation of our thoughts. By thinking positively and visualizing what we want, we make these things a reality. Negative occurrences are a result of our negative thoughts. This New Age belief system claims to describe a scientific “Law” that can be learned and practiced. It ignores the fact that this world is fallen, and chaos reigns. We cannot always control what happens to us, but in Christ, we can face all challenges and trials with courage. We will not always know “why” bad things happen, but we will know that when we suffer, we are co-suffering with the Lord Himself, and thus suffering has meaning and purifies, and we are not alone in it.

Karma. An ancient Hindu belief, it is more commonly known in the West as the concept of “what goes around, comes around.” A system of cause and effect, it is assumed that man will have evil repaid by evil and good by good in a perfectly-balanced system. A person can thus keep track of his good and bad deeds, and create his own destiny; he can assure blessedness by being good. This is contrasted with a life of faith in Christ, where a person recognizes that he can never pay back the debt of even one sin, and must rely solely on the Grace given by Christ through the Cross. We are called to live a transfigured life, to repay curses with blessings, to pray for those who persecute us, and to be Christ to all in our lives. For instance, St. Justina saved the man who pursued her by praying for him when he was about to suffer a disastrous fall.

Modern Business Culture. Hard work is certainly a virtue, but in the modern business world, seminars and classes are routinely held (and often obligatory) which seek to produce better producers by creating a certain way of thinking and approaching things—the “can do” attitude. In this system, problems are the fault of mental and psychological blocks which can be overcome through coaching and the right attitude, by following the system taught in the seminar. Such events even contain quasi-spiritual exercises such as centering exercises, which seek to induce a relaxed and receptive state in the learner, and visualization exercises.

The Lord Told Me… Many Christians have developed a bad habit of assuming that any religious-sounding idea that enters the mind must be from God, and in a misguided desire to be obedient to God, they base their lives around these thoughts and hunches, and even off of dreams (which the Church Fathers have warned us to not pay attention to). These ideas are often an unoriginal mix of common sense solutions and self-serving purposes. God becomes an excuse and a justification for such people to do as they please. What is a simple coincidence is given meaning by ascribing it to God and His will. Instead of relying on the frequent reading of Scripture and consultation with the clergy and fellow believers, answers are found within, in a personalized way.

The root problem of all four examples of magical thinking is man-centeredness, rather than trusting in God and being obedient to His will. All of these philosophies present the solution to the problem of evil and failure as internal to the person, rather than external in Christ. Man is assumed to be in control of his own destiny, and the deception that he is an autonomous being is not challenged head-on. The solution is Christ, the God who came and suffered for our sake, in whom we must place our trust if we wish to be saved.

St. Cyprian learned that he could not alter the will of God or control his own destiny when the faith of a teenaged girl overpowered all the tricks of the many demons who assisted him. All of his effort to learn the secrets of success in this life evaporated in a most unexpected way. When people in modern times follow any of the above ways of magical thinking, they are setting themselves up for despair when things happen to them that are beyond their control. Being a member of a Church does not make one immune from these false philosophies, and indeed, especially in the last example, they use God, the Church, and religiosity as covers for their continued self-will.

Let us not follow any false philosophy that teaches the answer is within us, whether it appears religious or secular. Let us humbly approach the Lord in prayer and ask for the forgiveness of sins and the Grace necessary to have a relationship with Him. When we receive Grace, we will know we are not left alone to find the answers. We will find real transformation through Christ and through His body, the Church, where our fellow believers are there to stand with us in times of struggle.

In Christ,

Fr. Anastasios

Dear Friends in Christ,

Hurricane Irene came through the area of Eastern NC with a vengeance. Ironically, Irene means peace in Greek! I am grateful to God that none of our parishioners lost their lives—downed trees and flooding are truly dangerous. Property damage did affect our community, however. One family lost their home, having to ride out the storm in a treehouse as the waters rose. Another family lost their pier, and another had trees all over their backyard. I am sure that some of you reading this also experienced damage. If any of you reading this would like to share your experience with me, I’d appreciate hearing from you as well. I can be reached by email at gocraleigh@gmail.com and by telephone at (919) 827-4945.

Hurricane Irene went on to ravage New York. On Long Island, several of our families lost power and suffered inconveniences, but the real damage was in the Catskills, where our monastery dedicated to the Holy Ascension is located. While the monastery itself was spared, the entire town surrounding it was flooded out, and all the businesses and homes on the main road were significantly damaged. The local grocery store lost all of its stock, and will not be replenished for at least a month. To put things in perspective, the acting abbot of the monastery, Fr. Maximus, has to drive 30 minutes each way just to get food of any kind now. For those who have lost their appliances and homes, this only adds to the misery. Fr. Maximus reports that it is the worst flooding he has ever seen in New York in his lifetime.

A serious matter such as this provides a natural opportunity to discuss a serious matter. One of my friends is a Protestant minister in Greenville. His parish has perhaps two times the number of people that our parish does—in other words, it is small by Protestant standards. Their denomination has a crisis response team, and people from neighboring parishes flew in to North Carolina and did work for the people who were suffering. People in their local Church community helped each other, helped their neighbors, and even people they didn’t know to help them recover—out of love for them, and a desire to share Christ with them. One of our families was served by such a group of mobile responders from Arkansas.

Our parish has doubled in size since last year, and all indications are that the growth will continue—subject of course, to the will of God. However, we are still small. It’s not a surprise that when the main families have suffered debilitating loss, that some of the damage at the Church (which is minor, thank God) was not addressed immediately. It’s understandable that some families had to receive help from non-Orthodox volunteers, who are better organized and have the financial resources to do so. Our diocese did organize some relief for the people in the Catskills, as it did in Joplin and Alabama during the tornados, but to be honest, it probably would have been impossible for it to manage two crisis responses at the same time (i.e. New York and North Carolina). All of this is very logical and understandable.

However, what is it about our faith which is average, basic, or exists with an attitude of “just getting by?” The Church exploded in the early centuries for two reasons: the holiness of its members was so great that God worked miracles through them readily, and they had the mentality that we are a community that needs to work together and live together. Our community in Greenville is made up of people who live far and wide; we are spread out. That sometimes makes it hard for us to serve each other. Yet there are core families who live 90, 70, and 30 miles away who make the effort to serve the community of Greenville. At the same time, there are many families who live in Greenville who have come to the Church occasionally but never significantly contributed to the maintenance of the property or the charitable outreach of the Church. We see in some the early apostolic spirit of doing whatever it takes to keep the faith spreading, and we see in others a desire to attend the Church when it suits them, when they need comfort, or prayers for themselves, but when it is not convenient to them, they do not attend.

I do not imagine that this problem is unique to our Church community, but I want to emphasize that this recent crisis only highlights the fact that the Church will only be able to do good in the lives of its members and the community surrounding it in proportion to the effort that the members put in to it. A few families cannot bear the brunt of all operations at the Church all the time, and when crisis strikes, if these families are affected, the Church’s mission is impacted. The work of maintaining the Church property and of organizing and staffing its ministries needs to be more equitably distributed.
Again, it is perfectly understandable that a small parish would not be able to have the kind of response to a crisis that other Churches were able to do. However, we have the grace of God, and we can do amazing things with this blessing, so we cannot be content to be average. We’ve seen amazing things happen at our parish in the three years we have been here, so there should be no doubt that any effort put in to the Church will bear astonishing results many times over.
Instead of simply admonishing you all, dear readers, I wish to encourage you. Let me paint a vision of the future. In three years’ time, Nativity of the Holy Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church will be three times the current size it is now. It will have members local to Greenville, and members from far-flung areas of Eastern Carolina who come and are served by the Orthodox presence here. When a crisis occurs, not only will the Church be able to meet the needs of its members, but it is able to make a positive impact in the community, and after the next disaster is over, people will remember that our parish was on the front lines of the response.

Are you reading this and wondering what you can do to help? I frequently invite readers to attend the Church liturgies, because this is where our conversion and spiritual growth begins. However, there are some of you reading who have attended infrequently—please come regularly, and sign up for the property cleaning and maintenance schedule. Next, you can help us manage our clothing distribution program, so that we can perhaps offer it more frequently.
For those of you who have been hesitant to attend a service for whatever reason—come to the next charitable event, or give me a call and let’s discuss ways you could help out at the Church during the week as a first step. The bottom line is, we all expect the Church to be there for us when we need it, but we need to be there for the Church and for others when they need it, too. We can’t just rely on others, because there will be times when they cannot do it alone.
We’ve weathered this storm, but we have some steps that need to be taken to reach the vision outlined above. Take the first step today! We will travel this road together in Christ.

In Christ,

Fr. Anastasios

Dear Friends in Christ,

The word “confess” comes up often in Orthodox prayers, writings, and sermons. There are two main ways that the term is used in the Church: to confess one’s faith, and to confess one’s sins. The former evokes images of the early Christians standing up for Christ in the arena, refusing to worship the old Roman gods, while the latter often evokes images from popular culture of a darkly-lit confessional and an old Roman Catholic priest sitting there waiting to hear one list off his sins.

Confession, in both senses, however, is really a proclamation, a statement of how things truly are, a “coming clean” so to speak. We have opportunities to confess our faith every day, sometimes by sharing what we believe with our family, friends, co-workers, or neighbors (namely that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, who has destroyed death and the power of sin by the Cross and Resurrection, and that by putting our faith in Him and receiving Holy Baptism, we are born again as new creatures and receive the chance to live the Kingdom of Heaven both now and in the age to come). Other times, it is by how we live, by showing kindness to others, by taking on an extra project at work to help our teammates, by volunteering, or by donating our goods to the poor. And sometimes, we are even called to defend our faith, to confess our beliefs and why they are correct in the face of a challenge to them, such as in the case of secularists or atheists who criticize our belief in God, or those who oppose the Orthodox Christian Church. In rare circumstances (although not so rare in Africa and Asia, or in Russia last century, or Greece in centuries past), we are even called to give our life for Christ, confessing Him before the tribunal of the godless.

Sometimes, however, we fail to live up to our confession of faith, and fall into sin. We are then presented with another form of confession, which is to confess our sins, one of the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments). Holy Confession in this context is to stand before God and come clean, to confess one’s weakness and failings, and to state categorically that without the grace of Christ, we cannot be forgiven and cannot be saved, yet by His infinite mercy and love for man, he restores to us the lost wedding garment, the robe of baptism, which we tear off when we sin, and yet which is restored to us when we repent, giving us a fresh start.

Whereas the public confession of faith requires boldness tempered by humility, in that we must proclaim our faith, but not be antagonistic about it, always keeping love at the forefront, in the case of the confession of our faults, we must approach with great humility at our fallen nature, tempered with boldness in order to take the roots of sin and pull them mercilessly out of our heart. As we gain experience tilling the garden of our soul, we will become more confident in the uprooting of these evil weeds, the passions, which hide in the depths. Confession over time enables us to become more and more self-aware, and to progressively confront and overcome our sinful nature, through God’s grace, bestowed through His priests.

Some will object that we do not need a priest in order to confess our sins; why not confess them to God directly? This is a false dichotomy. Every Christian should make an effort at the end of each day to account for his actions that day, confess that which was sinful, and ask for God’s grace to do better the next day. However, sin does not just affect the individual, but rather impacts the entire community.

Our personal sins contribute in unseen ways to the overall experience of our family, our neighborhood, and our parish. On a grand scale, the vast evil present in this world can be partly attributed to the buildup and impact of trillions of “small sins.” A little too much cholesterol every day will eventually clog the arteries, and in the same way, a few small sins here and there will eventually lead us to bigger problems, and our families will be affected by our illness. Confession to God in private alone does not do enough to recognize the corporate effect of sin, and hence the Church has always practiced a form of public confession, from the time of Ancient Israel to the present. In the early Church, confession was often done in front of everyone. Over time, for various reasons, confession became somewhat more privatized, with the priest standing in as a witness of the community that the one confessing is sincere. The priest then also functions as a witness of the community’s forgiveness, and an assurance to the penitent that God loves him and that everything is forgiven.

Holy Scripture gives us a few insights into this ministry of the ordained priesthood: “And when [Jesus] had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained’” (John 20:22-23). This was the first appearance of the Risen Lord to His Disciples, and it was in the context of His sending them forth to preach the Gospel. Forgiving sins is then an essential part of their mission.

Indeed, after Christ healed the Paralytic in order to demonstrate that He also had the power to forgive sins, we read that, “…when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men” (Matthew 9:8). We seen then how what the multitude noted, that the power to forgive sins had been given to men (not just to Jesus), was confirmed by Jesus breathing on His Apostles. Let us also remember that the breath of God was used previously to give life to Adam, so this should cause us to associate the forgiveness of sins with new life.

Finally, notice how the power to retain sins is also given to the Apostles; if they are to decide whether to forgive or to retain, then the clear meaning of this passage is that they are aware of what each person coming to them has done. The priest, who serves in the place of the bishop, who is a successor to the Apostles, has received this same grace to forgive sins, and he plays an important role in determining whether the penitent is truly sorry, acting as an external check.

We will cite one more example from Scripture. “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:14-16).

How then should we confess? Some Orthodox people have not confessed in a long time. Indeed, some may never have confessed, having not been taught to do so, which is a tragedy. The good thing is that it’s never too late to start, as long as we are breathing. Contact me, or another priest local to you, and ask to meet for confession, explaining that it has been some time, or something that you have never done. We will be happy to help you return to this saving practice.

How often should we confess? Some local customs have it that we confess before every communion. Others specify at least once every forty days, regardless of whether one is planning to commune. The important thing is that our confessions be regular and sincere, and that we be prepared for them in advance. Let us not conceal anything from the priest (who will never reveal what is discussed in confession) and thus be cleansed from our sins and forgiven. What we confess now will be covered on the Day of Judgment. It is the quintessential “investment in your future,” and I pray that you will resolve to come and partake of this great blessing!

In Christ,

Fr. Anastasios