Synod of Bishops

VATICAN 5-26 October 2008 Pope Benedict XVI convenes synod of world's Catholic bishops

The 12th general assembly of the Synod of Bishops meets in October to discuss "The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church." Significantly, Bartholomew I, the 270th patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, will attend this first Synod called by Pope Benedict XVI.

One result of the Vatican Council II of the Catholic Church, which ran 1962 to 1965, was the decision to welcome "fraternal delegations" to synod assemblies. Father Joseph Ratzinger was a theological consultant for the 3-year Council. Now Pope Benedict XVI, he extended an invitation to the Synod to Bartholomew I when he visited the Vatican in March. The Patriarch accepted, and both leaders will address the Synod.

The gesture represents one of the Vatican's few fruitful overtures to leaders of the Eastern rite, or Orthodox, branch of Christianity, which split from the Roman church in the Middle Ages. Vatican sources describe the gesture as in "the spirt of Ravenna," referring to the mixed international commission for theological dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church that was held in Ravenna, Italy, in October 2007.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the pontifical council for Christian unity, explained the development to Vatican Radio in March as an important step forward, although "the road to full unity is still a very long one." The main obstacle is the Vatican's insistance on the primacy of the Pope.

Pope Paul VI established the Synod as a \"permanent council of bishops for the universal Church\" in 1965.

This is the first time Pope Benedict XVI has called a synod and chosen its theme. His predecessor, the late Pope John Paul II, had already set the 2005 Synod on the Eucharist in motion.

Thoughts on our Recent Dialog

Image by Sacred Destinations via Flickr

Thank you to all for your comments.

I would please remind everyone—as I have some privately—that charity and respect for others are not optional here.

Reading through the various comments, I do not think I have anything to add to the comments offered. This is especially the case in those offered by Chrys and Sherry.

The "Called & Gifted" workshop is certainly not without its own challenges. But it is worth noting, I think, that this kind of practical exchange between Catholic and Orthodox Christians—especially on the grassroots level—has a long history. This is especially so in Russia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. To take but one example, no less venerable an Orthodox saints than Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and Theophan the Recluse offered their own version of the Roman Catholic text Unseen Warfare: The Spiritual Combat and Path to Paradise of Lorenzo Scupoli.

St Theophan's work, to take another quick example, is noteworthy for his incorporation into an Orthodox spiritual context of the decidedly Counter-Reformation theme from Catholic spirituality of the dark night of the soul/spirit (San Juan de la Cruz).

And of course there is the defense of St Augustine by Blessed Seraphim Rose of Platina.

It seems to me that in any conversation between Catholics and Orthodox, both sides must exercise great care that we hold ourselves above the polemics of the Reformation/Counter-Reformation era. This is something, I must point out in the strongest possible terms, that historically voices on both sides have failed to do. It is somewhat ironic, to me at least, that in the contemporary Orthodox theology, some of the most strongly polemic voiced sentiments, at least in the Russian tradition, are found in the anti-scholastic passages of the works of J. Meyendoroff, A. Schmemann and V. Lossky. What makes this ironic is that these men are often characterized by self-professed Traditionalists in the Orthodox Church as liberals (or if you rather, modernists).

Orthodox theology—including the theological scholarship of the men I just referenced—would be much the poorer it seems to me without the work of such Catholic scholars as H. von Balthasar, H. de Lubuc, and L. Bouyer who in leading the return of Catholic theology to the Fathers also made possible a like return among the Orthodox.

Finally, and unless I miss my guess all, or at least most, of those who have commented on the "Called & Gifted" workshop are ourselves converts to either Catholicism or Orthodoxy. One great temptation, especially I must say frankly and directly for those who were not well ground in the Great Tradition prior to their becoming Orthodox or Catholic, is to assume wrongly that the Catholic or Orthodox incarnation that, by God's grace they have found, exhausts that the Great Tradition. If, as a matter of faith, we hold that one expression (East or West, Greek or Latin) is theologically normative, we may not reasonably assume as a consequence that normative equals exhaustive. It does not. Let me go further and say that neither tradition is exhaustive in its articulation of the Gospel. And, likewise, we cannot understand either the Western or Eastern expression of the Great Tradition separate from, much less in opposition to, the other.

If East and West have grown apart in recent years, this separation does not undo our shared historical foundation. Much less does schism undo over 1,000 years of communion anymore than my sin undoes the grace given me in Baptism.

Acknowledging as we do baptism in each other's community, reminds us that there exists between us a real, if imperfect, communion. And, even if we argue that baptism is absent in other tradition, we would do well—or so it seems to me—to remember that we have put on Christ in Whom God has joined Himself to all humanity. Vested now in the grace of Holy Baptism, having been incorporated into the Body of Christ, I have then also, and with my Lord, been joined in Him to those He has already united Himself to in the Incarnation. If I really believe that I am in Christ, then, in Christ, I am also already joined, as is He, personally to the whole human family.

Who then am I to say by my words or deeds that I would refuse this gift from the hands of my Lord and the Master of my life?

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

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The Use of Authority part I: What is Authority?

Recent comments offered by AK and Mark Partalis raise for me important questions that are of both great theoretical and practical interest. Specifically, the comments they, and others, offer cause me to reflect on the nature of authority generally and in the life of the Church.

In classical Christian thought, authority--whether personal, secular or religious--is not an end in itself, but given for the common good. So for example we have Jesus reminding the disciples that in imitation of his example, they are given authority not to lord it over others, but for service:

Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mk 10: 42-45)

The Apostle Paul builds on this idea when he argues that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to each on behalf of all:

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Eph 4:12-16)

It is worth noting, that for Paul (as with Jesus) authority to rule, and by implication, the rule of law and the demands of justice, are not opposed to love. Rather, authority, law, justice are all in the service of joining and knitting together of the whole Body of Christ. Seen in this light, authority takes on a decidedly eschatological character--it points beyond itself to that time in the life to come when it will be revealed that " Christ is all and in all." (see, Col 3:11)

Authority, the rule of law and the fulfillment and transcendence of the demands of justice is what makes it possible for us, personally and communally, to put to "death" that in us which is of "the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." (Col 3:5) These vices bring down upon us as Paul says, "the wrath of God . . . upon the sons of disobedience (v. 6) and bred in the human heart "anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, [and] filthy language." (v. 8) And not only that, but between us, in the social realm grounded not in truth spoken in love (see Eph 4:15), but rather a "lie . . . since [we] have [not yet] put off the old man with his deeds." (Col 3.9).

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

To Burn and to Shine is Perfection

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Sunday, September 21, 2008: Today's commemorated feasts and saints... 14th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST—Tone 5. Sunday After the Elevation of the Cross. Leavetaking of the Elevation of the Cross. Apostle Quadratus of the Seventy (ca. 130). Uncovering of the Relics of St. Dimitry, Metropolitan of Rostov (1752). Ven. Daniel, Abbot of Shuzhgorsk (Novgorod—16th c.). Ven. Joseph of Zaonikiev Monastery (Vologdá—1612). Hieromartyr Hypatius, Bishop of Ephesus, and his Presbyter, Andrew (ca. 730-735). St. Isaac (Isacius) and Meletius, Bishops of Cyprus. Martyr Eusebius of Phœnicia. Martyr Priscus of Phrygia. Twenty-six Monk Martyrs of Zographou (Mt. Athos—1285). Ven. Cosmas the Bulgarian of Zographou (Mt. Athos—1323). Ss. John and George, Confessors (Georgia, 20th c.—Sept. 8th O.S.).

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

(Mark 8:34-9:1)

Speaking of us who have been "baptized into Christ" and have "put on Christ forevermore," the Apostle Paul says that we "are the body of Christ, and members individually." (1 Corinthians 12.27, NKJV) He goes on to say something that never fails to stop me with amazement. The Apostle doesn't tell me what I am supposed to do; he doesn't list my obligations as a Christian. Instead he tells me, tells all of us that, well, let me simply quote St Paul:

And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. (vv. 28-30)

Rather than telling us what I am supposed to do (and by implication, what I have failed to do) St Paul reminds us of who we are and of the gifts God has given all of us. In another place, he tells us that these gifts are given to each and every Christian not only for their own personal good but for the good of the whole Church, and through the Church for the salvation of the world. As he says, the gifts that you have been given are given to you personally in order that you are able to succeed in your call to "prepare God's people for works of service," and "so that the body of Christ," the Church, "may be built up." (Eph 4.11, NIV)

In the theology of the Orthodox Church, it is in Holy Baptism that we receive our own personal gifts. In Chrismation, as the late Fr Alexander Schmemann reminds us, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit as a confirmation that we are called personally to a life of good works. This call, finally, is nurtured in us by our reception of Holy Communion, our daily prayers, our fasting and above all through our acting on the talents we have been given.

While there are a number of ways in which we can come to understand what is our own personal work is within the Body of Christ, in November we will have an opportunity as a parish to take time out of our busy schedules and reflect together on our own callings and how each of us might be a wise and generous steward of the talents we have been given. I am referring to the "Called & Gifted" Workshop that we are hosting Friday and Saturday, November 21-22. Having participated in this workshop last year in Toledo, I know from experience how helpful these few hours will be for you if you take the time to participate.

One of the reasons the parish council and I are excited about this workshop is that it is a very practical, low key, solution to what is probably one of the greatest challenges facing the Orthodox Church. The Fr Nicholas Afanasiev in his book The Church of the Holy Spirit expresses this challenge this way:

There can be . . . in the Church, . . . no members who do not minister in it. … People cannot measure the quantity of grace which God gives without measure, but each of us knows that this measure is not always the same. The grace shines brightly in the saints, but in others it gleams little by little while never dying out. While the gifts of the Spirit are different, grace remains one and the same. But the appropriate measure of grace can be different even with the same gifts. … Wherever ministry is, there is the Spirit and wherever there is no ministry, there is no Spirit and no life. (pp. 16-17)

Not only are all of us called by God to fulfill certain task in His Name, God blesses us in baptism, chrismation and the Eucharist with the gifts (charismata) we need to fulfill the work to which He has called us. Without wishing to take away from the excellent work done by the parish council, St Ann's Society, the Church school teachers and choir, we should not think that these ministry, essential though they are to the life and health of the parish, are the only ministries to which people have been called.

There is not an Orthodox Christian parish in America (to take but one example) that was founded by the clergy. All of our parishes were founded by lay people and, especially in the case of our older parishes, lay people from the "Old Country" (which ever one that might be) or by their children or grandchildren. Again and again, it is the laity of the Orthodox Church, that have borne witness to the fact that God has blessed His Church with great gifts for (as Paul says) the building up in love and truth of the Body of Christ.

And not only that, again and again it is the laity who have testified to the generosity of God by their own willingness to respond generously, even sacrificial, to God's call by the use of the gifts God has given them.

In spite of the frustrations and even failures, we see all around us the evidence that Christ has poured out on His Church, on us, through His Holy Spirit, a great "diversity . . . of . . . gifts" that "God himself gives 'to each … for the common good.'" Again, as Fr Nicholas writes (pp. 20-21) it is "By virtue of this fact, there can be no" inactive Christians, no Christians without a calling and a ministry in the Church for the life of the world. Why? Because there can be such thing as an "inactive gift of the Spirit because the Spirit is an active principle by his very nature." Fr Nicholas then turns to his brother clergy, he turns to me, and says that "To deprive [the laity] of their dignity as [ministers of the Gospel and coworkers with Christ for the salvation of the world] is equivalent to depriving them of the gifts of the Spirit, of which God has made them drink on the day of their baptism." (1 Cor. 12. 13)

There is no one here this morning that has not been blessed by God with talents that, in ways both great and small, are given to him or her for the salvation of the world.

And there is no one here who if he or she responds, in even a small measure, to that call will not glorify God in their own lives.

And there is no one here who, in glorifying God, will fail to shine with divine light and burn with zeal for Christ and His Church.

To be a wise steward of the talents given us by Christ is no great burden. It requires only that we become ever more who we are already in Christ.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, become who Christ has called you to be, become who you are already. Use the talents you have been given and, in so doing give glory to God and reveal to the world, and yourself, your dignity as children of God, coworkers with Christ, and that you are already citizens of the Kingdom of God which is to come.

If I may, let me end by paraphrasing one of my own favorite saints from the medieval West, Bernard of Clairvaux. In a homily on the Nativity of St John the Baptist, Bernard tells his listeners "Merely to shine" with the divine light "is futile; merely to burn" with zeal for God and His people "is not enough; to burn and to shine [this is] perfection." May we all of us personally and as a parish, shine with the divine light and burn with zeal for God and His people and so manifest ourselves as having been made perfect in Christ by His grace and our own efforts!

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Lay Spiritual Formation: An Ecumenical Opportunity

Let me bring now to a conclusion my consideration of lay spiritual formation by looking at something my parish is planning.

On November 21-22, 2008 my parish, Holy Assumption Orthodox Church (OCA) in Canton OH, is hosting a Roman Catholic team who will lead a workshop meant to help people discern what their own unique gifts are given to them at Baptism. The "Called & Gifted Workshop" is a project of the Catherine of Siena Institute is "a program of the Western Dominican Province dedicated to equipping parishes for the formation of lay Catholics for their mission in the world." To do this, in their own words, they "provide innovative programs, resources, and leadership training that are faithful to Church teaching and will enable your parish to become a dynamic center of lay formation and mission." The workshop will be lead by the co-directors of the Institute, Fr Michael Fones, O.P. and Sherry Anne Weddell.

One of the reasons that I am excited about the "Called & Gifted" workshop is that they present an understanding of the Christian life grounded in an appreciation for the sacrament of baptism. Again, from the Catherine of Siena web site: "Every lay man and woman has been called by Christ (in his or her baptism) to a unique mission, and every lay man and woman has been gifted by the Holy Spirit in order to be able to answer that call."

To be very direct about it, often in the Orthodox Church we see the Christian life in terms of monasticism rather than baptism. We too easily forget that monastic life is the fruit of a baptism and, as such, does not, and cannot, exhaust what God does in baptism. Compare this monasticization of the Christian life to the baptismal vision of the Christian life that inspires the "Called & Gifted" workshop: "The Church calls these gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christians are given for the sake of others 'charisms.'" They continue by asserting that "Discerning our charisms is an important first step to discerning God's call. These gifts of the Holy Spirit are both clues as to the nature of the mission for which God is preparing us and tools with which to successfully carry out our mission."

The teaching of the Catholic Church "that all of the baptized are called by Christ to proclaim his Gospel in the world" is certainly one that any Orthodox Christian could affirm. But, as in the Catholic Church, the pastoral implications of our baptismal call are often neglected. Rarely "do parishes provide a formation that prepares Catholics for so great a mission." Beside my personal respect for both Fr Mike and Sherry, I hoping that they will be able to do for Orthodox Christians, what they have done so successfully for Catholics. What is this you ask? Very simply that help people "bridge the gap between the Church's vision for the laity and their participation in the Church's essential mission of evangelization," on the one hand "and the typical reality within the parish where there is little awareness of the mission of the Church, lay responsibility for the proclamation of the Gospel, and the necessity of lay formation for effective participation in evangelization" on the other.

It is ironic that while the Orthodox Church has received from other Christian traditions, tens of thousands of adults into her midst, we seem (as I have pointed out in other posts) to have failed to provide these new Orthodox Christians with sound a spiritual formation that seeks to help them discern what is their own unique vocation. And, I hasten to add, we have failed to do this for new Orthodox Christians because we fail to do this for those baptized into the Church as infants.

The question that might be asked at this point why am I seeking assistance from Roman Catholics? Why not invite Orthodox Christian speakers? Let me answer the last question first.

While there are many Orthodox Christians who could be invited to speak, I am not aware of any who are skilled in lay spiritual formation. As I said, often if we speak of the spirituality of the laity at all, we do so from an at least implicit monastic model. This is not to reject monasticism far from it. But (as I said above) monasticism is a mode, or way, of living out our baptism, but it does not exhaust the gift of baptism.

More than that though (and this gets at to why I am asking a Roman Catholic team to speak), pastorally the Orthodox Church has largely neglected the formation of the laity. More often than not, we imagine that coming to Liturgy, going to confession, keeping the fasts and a rule of prayer is sufficient. But as the results of Pew Charitable Trust survey suggest, this is simply not working. One third of those baptized as infants simply leave the Church; two thirds of those who identify themselves as Orthodox Christians are not in Church on any given Sunday; over half of those who join the Church as adults, will eventually leave. Given the statistics it is hard for me to avoid saying flatly that we have simply failed.

My hope is that Fr Mike and Sherry, speaking from their own experience as Catholics, will offer to us as Orthodox Christians a deeper insight into what it is we have all received in baptism.

If you are interested in participating in the Called & Gifted Workshop, please either email me or call the parish at 330.455.9146. Again, the workshop is being hosted at Holy Assumption Orthodox Church (OCA), Canton OH, November 21,2008 from 7- 9 pm and Saturday, November 22, 2008 from 9- 4 pm. The charge for the workshop is $20.00. Breakfast and lunch will be included on Saturday. Personal discerning sessions will be available after the seminar ends for an additional fee of $25.00.

Please register soon. Because of space constraints, we are limited to only 100 participants. As of this point, 20 of those spaces have been taken. I you are interested in participating, register soon. Once spaces our gone, we will add your name to a waiting list. If space becomes available we will inform you. If space does not become available we will of course return your registration fee to you.

I look forward to meeting you at the seminar.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Talk Like A Pirate Day

In honour of Talk Like A Pirate Day:



For more information:

How Then Shall We Live? Our Use of Time

Sunday, September 14, 2008: Today's commemorated feasts and saints... 13th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST-Tone 4. THE UNIVERSAL EXALTATION (ELEVATION) OF THE PRECIOUS AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS. Repose of St. John Chrysostom (407 A.D.). Monk Martyr Macarius of Dionysiou (Mt. Athos-1507). Monk Martyr Joseph of Dionysiou (Mt. Athos-1819).

Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

(John 19:6-11,13-20,25-28,30-35)

We are continuing our consideration of Christian stewardship. To summarize what we said last week, stewardship is concerned with how we use our time, talent and treasures to make of the creation a fit and beautiful home for the human family. In other words, our stewardship is part of how we fulfill God's call to our First Parents Adam and Even "to be fruitful and multiple, to fill the earth and subdue it."

There is, and again as we saw last time, a second level as well to stewardship. If stewardship is a synonym for the general human vocation to work, as a uniquely Christian pursuit, stewardship takes on an ascetical character. Christian stewardship is concerned with the redemption of human work, effort, creativity and ingenuity in and through our personal and shared obedience to Christ. It is important to keep in mind that no matter how much I imagine myself to be a good person I am always subject to the temptation to exercise my own creativity and ingenuity in a way that separates me from God or my neighbor. Or, and this is worse still, I might (as many have done) put my efforts into projects that separate from God or my neighbor, obscuring or even undermining by my actions his vocation, his own calling. All of this is to say that often human effort and creativity are misdirected.

In the Old Testament especially, sin is often described as "missing the mark." The idea here is this: Just an archery a small deviation left or right, up or down, will cause an arrow to miss the target, so too I often deviate from what God would have me do and so I "miss the mark" for my own life. Often the work I do is marred by sin. This often reflect my own personal sin (I do something sinful), but it might also reflect the selfishness of others, or simply some form of material want.

Our work than is an experience of joy and of corruption and frustration marred as it is by sin. Our work, as with the whole of human life, must be redeemed by Christ. To see this a bit more clearly, let us together reflect on the Cross of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ as we celebrate the Exaltation of the most Holy Cross. When we do we see immediately two different, but not unrelated truths.

First and foremost, the Cross makes manifest to a fallen world the depth of God's love for us poured out in Jesus Christ. Second, it is by the very brilliance of the light of God's love for us, which makes abundantly clear how corrupt human work has become. Let me explain.

Think for a moment of the long history of human effort, legal, religious, cultural, scientific and technological, that preceded the Cross. The Cross was for the Roman Empire a favorite means of executing those who--whether criminal or not--threatened the power of Caesar. It was imposed and sustained not only by the legal authority of the Empire, but also its military might and administrative genius. All of this human effort had to be brought to bear in order for Jesus to be crucified. And not only that. As the Gospel makes clear Jesus was sent to the Cross by those religious authorities who misappropriated and corrupted for their own purposes, the profound religious heritage that was the birthright of the whole Jewish people.

All of this otherwise good and fruitful human work was misdirected. The Cross makes manifest how the best in human ability can tragically miss the mark. Failing not only to glorify God and create for the human family a fit home, our work instead creates in the human heart a depth of fear and shame to the human heart so profound that "nothing is too hard" for mankind, even the murder of God.

At the same time that the Cross reveals the depth of human sinfulness, of my sinfulness, we must remember that it is first and foremost an expression of God's love and mercy. As such, the Cross reminds us that even horribly corrupted, human work still reveals God. But how different from the experience of Adam and Eve before the fall is my discovery of God on the Cross, for on the Cross, and by my own hand and as a reflection of my own misdirected work, He is killed and I reveal myself to be not a steward of His gifts but in fact the one who turns those gifts against the Giver.

How can we avoid then the misuse of the gifts we have been given?

As wise stewards of the gifts that God has given us, we should first and foremost use the gift of time to draw closer to God the Father in Jesus Christ through the Power of the Holy Spirit. "From this moment on," St Herman of Alaska says, "let us serve God at all times." This is accomplished not by simply spending time in church at Vespers or Liturgy. Don't mistake my meaning, I not suggesting people stay away from the services, far from it in fact. It is here, in the Church assembled in prayer before our Creator, that we learn how and for what we are to pray.

But too easily I can fall into the reassuring, but mistaken, notion that the measure of my relationship with Christ is how many hours I spend in services. For too many Orthodox Christians, participation in the formal worship of the Church is seen as the whole of what it means to spend time with God.

What I have in mind is a little different I think. As wise stewards of the gift of time we need to cultivate in ourselves a gentle openness and remembrance of God's presence in our lives. How easy it is for me to forget that each moment of my life is a sacrament of God's loving presence not only for me, but the whole human family. Just as Christ come to you in the Eucharist under the form of Bread and Wine, so too He comes to you in the seconds and minutes, the hours and days, the weeks, months and years that make up your life. In each moment, great and small, Christ is there with you and it is only necessary that you remember that at all times, and so in all places and in all things, you are in His Presence and He has embraced you with His love.

With this realization in my heart, whatever might be the frustrations and even failures I may encounter in my work--whatever that work might be--each moment of my life carries within it the possibility of my drawing nearer to Christ.

And not only that.

Mindful of Christ's presence in my life opens me to the realization that in each moment of my life Christ can draw others to Himself through me.

And not only that.

Mindful of His Presence in my life, he is able to draw me to Him through others.

How then should we spend our time, that one gift that, once used, can never be replenished? By striving to keep in mind that God is With Us at each moment of our life and that far one distracting from the other, our communion with God and our work (granted in very different ways) can each support and sustain the other. A wise steward of the gift of time sees time as much a sacrament of God's love for us as the Cross or the Eucharist.

Through retreats, daily prayer and the reading of Scripture, fasting, participation in the services of the Church, the cultivation of times of silence in our lives, and above through all the regular reception of Holy Communion, frequent Confession we come to an ever deeper awareness and appreciation of the presence of God in our lives. Though it may represent a relatively small percentage of how we spend our time, a sound spiritual life is essential if we, personally, as a parish and as a Church are to fulfill Christ's call to create a fit and beautiful home for the human family.

Having now secured the foundations of Christian stewardship, our vocation to work and the right use of time, we will in the next two weeks turn our attention to the practical means of stewardship: the use of our talents and our treasure.

May Christ our True God, through the power of His Precious, Life-Giving and most Holy Cross, open our hearts to a lively awareness of His Presence in each moment of our lives.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Syndiakonia: Lay and Clergy Cooperative Leadership and the Spiritual Formation Group

To repeat what I have said earlier, the goal of a spiritual formation group is to help participants grow in self-knowledge and self-mastery in Christ. In other words, the aim of this type of group is vocational and ascetical and as such is a process grounded not only in the grace of baptism and personal experience, but also tradition. And again to reaffirm what I said earlier, group formation is not a time set aside for people to simply share their own, idiosyncratic (and often narcissistic) views on the spiritual life. Avoiding this temptation and keeping the focus on personal formation within the context of the tradition of the Church requires a leader who is him or herself not only personally mature spiritually and psychologically, but also well grounded in the tradition of the Church.

One of the great temptations in any formation group is for one member, either through force of personality or the collusion or passivity of other group members, to dominate their time together. Whether the dominate personality is that of a group member or the group leader is secondary; in either case the substance of the formation process is undercut to the determinate of all.

Ideally small group leaders should be chosen from among those who have already demonstrated their commitment to Christ and potential for leadership in and through not only the quality of their spiritual life (including regular attendance at Liturgy and frequent confession) but also their willingness to participate in the philanthropic, evangelistic and/or catechetical ministries of the Church on either the parochial or diocesan levels.

In addition to the careful selection of who directs such a group, there are I think some practical things that can be done in a parish setting to help make a formation group a fruitful undertaking for not only the group members themselves, but also the larger parish community. Let me suggest some things that might prove helpful.

As with any small group meeting, there is a temptation, and sometimes a tendency, for the group to become elitist. I remember in my own early experiences with Charismatic prayer groups this was certainly a problem that we often encountered. Besides being contrary to the Gospel, elitism is harmful for both the group members and the larger parish community. For this reason it is important that any small group ministry, but especially a formation group meeting under lay presidency, remain in regular contact with the parish priest, the council and the parish as a whole. This I would add, is also true for choirs, Church School teachers, parish Sisterhoods or Brotherhoods, and any of the myriad small groups that meet formally or informally under the auspices of the parish. Any group needs to make regular reports to the pastor, the parish council and the parish community as a whole. Cooperative ministry does not "just happen," it requires planning and effort. Or maybe more accurately, cooperative ministry is built on the foundation of good planning, regular communication with the larger community, and under the supervision of the pastor. Let us look at these in order.

Any small group, but especially a formation group, needs to be planned. With a formation group one of the most effective things that can be done is to have the group leaders themselves be members of a formation group lead by the parish priest. Following the general structure I outlined earlier, this group should meet on a regular basis with the priest and look together at texts chosen to help them not only with their own personal spiritual lives but also with the demands of leadership. Some of my favorite texts for this are The Holy Rule of St Benedict, the various rules written by St Basil, St Augustine's First Catechetical Instruction, and On Pastoral Care by Pope St Gregory Dialogous (in the West, Gregory the Great).

In my next post I want to offer some suggestions not only cooperative ministry between the laity and the clergy, but with the order of the laity.

Until then, and as always, your comments, questions and criticisms are not only welcomed, they are actively encouraged by me.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Stewardship & the Human Vocation to Work

As part of my parish's stewardship campaign, I will be preaching of various aspects of Christian stewardship for the whole month of September. I will include for reference the Gospel for the Sunday, but since my sermons are more catechetical than exegetical this month I will deal only marginally with the text.


On re-reading the sermon this morning, I noticed a number of typos that I have since corrected.

+Fr Gregory

Sunday, September 7, 2008: 12th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST-Tone 3. Forefeast of the Nativity of the Most-Holy Theotokos. Sunday Before the Elevation of the Cross. Martyr Sozón of Cilicia (ca. 304). St. John, Archbishop and Wonderworker of Novgorod (1186). Ven. Serapion of Spaso-Eleazar Monastery (Pskov-1481). Martyrdom of St. Makáry, Archimandrite of Kanev (Pereyaslavl'-1678). Apostles Evodia (Euodias) and Onesiphorus of the Seventy (1st c.). Martyr Eupsychius of Cæsarea in Cappadocia (2nd c.). Ven. Luke, Abbot, near Constantinople (10th c.). Ven. Cloud (Clodoald), Abbot, founder of Nogent-sur-Seine near Paris.

Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." He said to Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

(Matthew 19:16-26)

If we think about stewardship at all, we usually limit ourselves to concerns about money and then only insofar as we need to keep the lights on and pay the priest.

While certainly these are laudable goals for the parish (especially paying the priest!), Christian stewardship is significantly more than simply a matter of paying the bills. Together with our prayer life, our fasting, and our participation in the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church, stewardship is an essential part of our Christian life. More than what we say how we use the three basic elements of stewardship, time, talent and treasure, reveals what we value, how we view ourselves, and what we imagine it means to be human. To begin our consideration of stewardship and its role in my life as I strive both to understand who I am in Christ (vocation) and live out that identity (asceticism) let me begin with the most universal question raised by stewardship: What does it mean to be human.

This may seem to be a strange place to begin, but think about it for a moment. Before we are any of us Christians, that is before any of us our baptized or make a commitment to Jesus Christ, we are all of us human. The importance of our shared humanity should not be minimized; after all we are saved and made one in Christ precisely because God took on our humanity. He becomes as we are, in the frequently repeated phrase of the fathers, so that we might become as He is. Deification, theosis, presupposes not only divine grace poured out by the Holy Spirit (above all through the sacraments) but also a common humanity shared not only with other men and women, but also with Christ our True God. Too often, especially in the early years of my own spiritual life, I saw the Gospel as an escape from the shared human nature and struggle.

As I have grown older, if not necessarily wiser, I've come to appreciate St Irenaeus' argument that in Christ the whole of human life is recapitulated, or assumed, by Christ. Why is this important? Because as the saint reminds us, that in us which is not assumed by Christ is not healed by Him.

So faithful to the example of Christ and the teachings of the fathers, let us look first to our common human vocation as we struggle to be faithful to who Christ has called us to be.

The human vocation is written not simply in the first pages of the Holy Scriptures, but (if we accept the testimony of the Scriptures) inscribed also in the creation itself. Indeed, reading the opening chapter of Genesis and seeing the creation of the human couple, Adam and Eve our First Parents, the fathers saw humanity not only as an icon of the Most Holy Trinity, but also as the goal of creation. It for us that God creates; even as later it will be for us that He becomes Man in Jesus Christ.

Taking a longer view, and mindful of the incarnation, the fathers saw humanity as the point at which the Uncreated and created met. To be human is to be the place of communion between God and the cosmos. We are this because we are both a microcosm and a macrocosm; we are both the creation in miniature even as we also contain the whole creation in ourselves. For this reason on turning his mind and heart to God King David says of us all: "What is man that you care for Him?"

In the moment in which our creation is completed, we read in Genesis the divine command to our First Parents: "Be fruitful and multiple, fill the earth and subdue it." While this certainly refers to procreation, to the begetting and raising of children in marriage, it also has a more general application. To be human is to be productive and profitable and to make of the creation a fit home for the human family. In a word, the vocation of the human person is to work.

But work in Genesis means much more than what we think of it now on the other side of Adam's transgression. In Genesis, we see God first and foremost as an artisan. As a potter forms clay into vessels both beautiful and useful, so to God takes the unformed matter of the cosmos and shapes it into something beautiful and good. This is not an abstract goodness or beauty, but one that is fitting for man. God creates something beautiful and good for us and then He charges us to continue that work of shaping creation as a beautiful, good and fit home for ourselves.

The primordial human vocation is this: After God and in God, we are to be as God for the creation and one another. We are called by God to exercise our gifts and ability to shape not only the material world, but also the social and cultural world according to the needs of the human family. This is not simply a functional task, but one which from (beginning to end, in both means and modes) is to be characterized by beauty and goodness.

Before all else, to be a steward is to commit oneself personally and generously to using the gifts of time, talents and treasure God has given each of us to create a good and beautiful home fit for the human family. But how we use out time, talent and treasure is not only an expression of our original vocation. While it has always required effort, even before the Fallen, because of Adam's transgression our work is often frustrating and marred by want and conflict. If sin has marred our vocation, it has not been undone. If anything one of the great sorrows of human life is the myriad ways in which our original vocation is so often left unfulfilled, still born and even aborted by human selfishness and material want.

It is for this reason that our work must be in Christ making our stewardship not only an expression of our shared human vocation, but also an expression of our personal effort to redeem human work, creativity and ingenuity.

In the next three weeks, I want to explore with you the three elements of our stewardship: time, talent, and treasure. As I said at the beginning, how we use time, treasure and talent reveals not only what we value, but also who we understand ourselves to be as a Christian community. May we by our stewardship show ourselves to be faithful disciples of Christ and found worthy at the end of our life to inherit the place prepared for us from all eternity.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Syndiakonia: Lay Cooperative Leadership and the Spiritual Formation Group

In my last post, I encouraged regular meetings between the priest and small group leaders. While these meetings are important (essential really) they are not sufficient. Effective lay leadership also requires regular that is to say, at least quarterly, communication with the parish council and at least an annual report to the whole parish. Not only does this help keep the group from focusing on itself, it also keeps the larger community aware of what is happening with the various small group ministries. It also, I should add, helps build these small group ministries--people won't participate in a ministry they don't know exists or, if they know it exists, understand. Remember, that a formation group is what sociologists call a "mediating structure" between the wider realities of parish, diocese, the Church or culture on the one hand, and the particular reality of one's daily life. The small group is then inherently a place of some tension and there is always the risk of the group become an occasion for isolation from either pole of the members' lives.

Small groups and especially spiritual formation groups that meet on a regular basis for common prayer and shared reflection can be a great source of strength and encouragement for not only the laity but also the clergy. Precisely because their focus is vocational and ascetical, or if one prefers, Christian discipleship. They provide a means to help people discover the joyful challenge of not simply being called Christian, but actually being Christian.

Great rewards however require great effort and risks. Effective small group ministry in generally, and spiritual formation groups particularly, don't simply happen. Nor are they without their own possibilities for failure. This is in the nature of the Christian life isn't it? The angel of the Lord instructed St John the Theologian to write these words to the Church Laodicea:

These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Rev 3.14-22)

No question, the words are harsh. But again, in what other area of life do we succeed without effort and at the risk of failure? To my knowledge none.

In my next post I want to offer what I think is an exciting ecumenical opportunity for the spiritual formation of the laity that my own parish will be undertaking later this fall.

Until then, and as always, your comments, questions and criticisms are not only welcomed, they are actively encouraged by me.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

The "Mechanics" of Group Spiritual Formation: A Spiritual Conversation

Mindful that the goal is to help people help each other come to self-knowledge and self-mastery in light of the Tradition, I find it best to begin with a brief, 10 minute reflection on the text assigned for that meeting. As I have mentioned in another place, in this talk I will ALWAYS make three points:

1. What is the aspect of the Christian faith illustrated by the text? ("What do we believe?")
   
2. How in the Tradition of the Church is that faith typically embodied? ("How have the saints who have gone before us lived?") and finally,
   
3. What are the typical obstacles and facilitating conditions for our incarnating the faith? ("How then are we to live?")
   

In presenting the opening talk, it is important that the group leader bear in mind that the objective here is three-fold. The talk should be (1) an inspirational reflection on the text (2) in light of what he or she has appropriated and applied from the text to their own life and (3) what the leader thinks is foundational for the group as a whole.

So in a group of retired men and women, for example, the fact that the director is quite taken with the Pilgrim reciting the Jesus Prayer 10,000 or more times a day, doesn't mean he should suggest this as a standard to be imitated by the group. But he might reflect on how overwhelming is the Pilgrim's example but how it has inspired him to set aside a few minutes at the beginning and end of everyday to recite the Jesus Prayer. Or, how he recites the prayer at quiet moments during the day. And all of this might be introduced by the Scripture command to pray constantly as a command to be always mindful of the Presence of Christ in our life.

Learning how do offer a talk that is inspirational in character takes practice. One sign that a speaker has learned to do so is the response s/he gets from the group. The initial talk is meant to be a stimulus for conversation in the group. For this reason there needs to be clear a transition from conference to conversation. Leaders need to be attentive therefore to tone, gesture, etc. There are three intertwining methods:

1. The leader might wish to ask the participants to discuss those parts of the assigned text that they resonate with/resisted.
   
2. Sharing of reflections/thoughts by the participants in the service of the group helping each other in their journey toward self-knowledge and self-mastery.
   
3. Integration and articulation of the suggestions for the spiritual life that are not only held in common but which people in the group as particularly important.
   

Obviously, I have only offered a very brief sketch here the process of group formation. And it should be clear that what I have outlined is very demanding of the group leader. In the next series of posts I want to speak directly about the group leader and his or her relationship with the parish priest.

As always, your questions, comments, criticism are most welcome and actively sought.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

AXIOS!

It is with great joy that I convey to you that my friend and brother in Christ Archimandrite Jonah, abbot of St John of San Francisco Monastery, Manton CA has been elected Bishop of Forth Worth for the Orthodox Church in America.   I got to know Fr Jonah when Mary and I lived in Redding and he came up from the Bay area to start SS Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Mission in Chico, CA (about 70 miles south of us).

May God grant His servant, Bishop elect Jonah many years!

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

From the OCA web site:

Archimandrite Jonah (Paffhausen) elected Bishop of Fort Worth and Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of the South

Posted 09/04

SYOSSET, NY [OCA Communications] – On Thursday, September 4, 2008, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America issued the following statement.

“On September 4, 2008, the Holy Synod of Bishops of The Orthodox Church in America elected Archimandrite Jonah (Paffhausen) to be Bishop of Fort Worth, and Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of the South.

“Details regarding the consecration of Bishop-elect Jonah will be announced later.”

The "Mechanics" of Group Spiritual Formation: Prayer & Text

Group spiritual formation is not group therapy, an adult religious education, or group sharing. Nor, I hasten to add, is it an occasion for sermonizing by either a lay or clergy leader.

It is rather a prayerful conversation in which the group members help each other discover and incarnate who they are and are called to be in Christ. In other words, the goal of the group is self-knowledge and self-mastery in Christ. The means of accomplishing this two-sided goal is a conversation that is both rooted in, and leads to, prayer.

The twin goals of self-discovery and self-mastery might see odd to many. In more typical Orthodox theological language we might say that the concern of group formation is vocation (i.e., self-knowledge in Christ) and ascetical (i.e., self-mastery in the service of living out who I am in Christ). In this post I am less concerned with the teleos of this process and more in briefly describing in a practical fashion the process of the spiritual formation group itself.

The formation group itself begins and ends with prayer. In an Orthodox Christian context there are a number of different options for the opening prayer. For a more formal beginning, we might gather to pray Vespers, one or more of the Hours, an Akathist or Moleben. Less formally, the group might recite the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner") with the group leader reciting say the first half of the prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God. . . ") with the group either singularly or corporately responding with the conclusion (". . . have mercy on me a sinner"). Another option is for the leader to read a short passage from Scripture or a spiritual text, followed by a time of silence. As a personal matter, I find the more informal approach, limited to 2-3 minutes, to be more effective than a formal service.

However the group beings, I find it best for the group to conclude with silence. Early on the group as a group may only be able to tolerate a minute or two of silence before people begin to fidget. As the members of the group become more familiar with each other the silence can be extended and take up a larger percentage of their time together. In a group that lasts approximately 90 minutes, 10 or 15 minutes or even more time can be given over to the concluding period of silence.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

As a practical matter, I find it best to focus the group's time together around a classical spiritual text. There is a wide-range of works that can be used and they should be selected with an eye not only to their centrality to the Tradition of the Church, but also the needs of the group members. This means that we need to take into account the difficulty of the text in terms of language and concepts, length, and the "existential" distance between the text and the group members.

So for example, in the first spiritual formation group I lead as a graduate student we used The Way of the Pilgrim. The text itself has come to hold a central place in not only Orthodox spirituality but is valued by Catholic and Protestant readers as well. The text itself is easy to read and is not overly demanding either intellectually or emotionally for the average reader. And while the Pilgrim whose adventures are chronicled is a Russian peasant wandering through 19th century Russia, the basic themes he addresses are very basic human themes, for example, grief, disappointment, and fear.

St John Climacus's The Ladder of Divine Ascent, on the other, is unlikely to prove effective especially for a beginning group. The work is long, culturally alien and is narrowly concerned with the experience of early Christian monastics. Again, this doesn't mean that the book shouldn't be used, only that it may not be as effective text for a general audience as say St John Cassian's On the Eight Vices which, while also quite challenging, is a shorter, more focused and accessible work for the average adult.

Also helpful are works of a more theological or systematic nature. I'm thinking here of Bishop Kallistos (Ware) The Orthodox Way, Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom), The Courage to Pray, Fr Alexander Schmemann's Great Lent: Journey to Pascha, For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodox, or Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism.

Novels and short fiction is also a possibility. And of course there is Scripture. But whatever text is used it must be not only generally accessible but classical text. We ought to avoid more marginal or specialized works.

Whatever is read, is best read according to a schedule so that the group members can focus their reading and thoughts on the same section of the text. Failure to do so usually results in some group members reading ahead, others lagging behind, and no one on the same page. When people really are not really basing their reflection on a common text there is a tendency to substitute one's own idiosyncratic (and not infrequently, narcissistic) views on the spiritual life for a shared response to the Christian tradition.

In my next post, I will look at how this shared response might be structured.

As always, your questions, comments, criticism are most welcome and actively sought.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Why Group Spiritual Formation

Having explored yesterday what I mean by group spiritual formation, I want in this post to offer a justification for it as a potential area of lay ministry in the Church.

The tradition of the Orthodox Church is incredibly rich in not only theological insight, but also anthropological wisdom. At the same time the very depth and breadth of the tradition tends to lull us into a mindset that assumes--wrongly I would argue--that the tradition is (to use a contemporary phrase) turnkey. All I need to do, so the thinking goes, is simply listen to my spiritual father, go to church, keep the fasts, go to confession and say my daily prayers and I am living an Orthodox life. Most Orthodox priests, and not a few attentive lay people, will tell you that this approach to the spiritual life is at best naive and at worst self-deceptive.

Living a wholesome spiritual life requires instruction and guidance. This is why Orthodox Christians place such a value on the office of spiritual father or mother. We all of us need a guide in the spiritual life. In my own pastoral experience however, I've found that my own ability to guide people is somewhat limited. In part this reflects my own limits both profound and mundane. Even assuming that I could overcome the more substantial of my limitations, I often find (as most priests do) that I do not always have the time or energy to offer guidance to everyone who might want my attention.

Beyond my own limitations though, I often discover real limitations in the people who seek guidance from me. At times these limitations are benign; a lack of sound catechesis being the prime deficient to be overcome. Other times there are underlying psychopathologies that are more appropriately engaged by a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. And for still others, their motivation in seeking me out has little if anything to do with growing in the spiritual life and more to do with an almost compulsive need to have an external authority figure in their lives.

These, and other limitations, aside however it seems to me that the biggest pastoral challenge we face as Orthodox Christians (and I think this is also a problem for Catholics, Anglicans and any other Christian tradition that takes seriously the demands of the inner life) is our tendency to want to limit the work of spiritual formation to as few people as possible. In a word, we have clericalized (or maybe more accurately, monasticized) the work of spiritual formation.

Partly this has happened because of a lack of sound catechesis for the laity. Though we are the inheritors of a rich theological tradition, few among the laity have even a basic grasp of the catechism. Absent this knowledge, much of the work of spiritual formation necessarily becomes remedial in nature and so limited to "experts" if I may use this term in reference to the spiritual life.

But I also think that our limiting spiritual formation work to the clergy and monastics also reflects a fundamental lack of appreciation of the Mystery of Holy Baptism and the call of each of us to serve as priest, prophet and king in Christ. Even absent moral, spiritual or educational reasons that would preclude a lay person engaging in the ministry, we simply they are not capable of engaging in the work of spiritual formation. We live as if lay people are not able to offer guidance for one and other. But whether true or not, if this is our working assumption, what does this say about the spiritual state of the Church as a body of believers in general and about the effectiveness of the clergy in particular as spiritual fathers for our respective diocesan and parochial communities? If the laity cannot serve as priests, prophets and kings within the Church (albeit with the guidance of the clergy) how can they fulfill these same offices outside the Church in evangelistic or philanthropic ministries?

Establishing and encouraging the work of group spiritual formation as a lay ministry guided by the clergy, or so I would suggest, is potentially a way for parish priests help lay people come to appreciate not only in a general sense the baptismal call of the whole Body of Christ to serve as priest, prophet and king, but also to do so in a specific sense within the context of their own daily lives. But this raises a question: How do we do the work of group spiritual formation?

Unus Christianus, nullus Christianus, one Christian is no Christian. The very word "church," reminds us that our Christian life is lived as a member of a community, of a group, or fellowship of believers, called together in Christ, by the command of God the Father, and through the work of the Holy Spirit. Further, as the Apostle Paul reminds us, we are all of us given gifts, charisms, for the building up of the Body of Christ, for those men and women with whom we have been gathered together. In fact, let me push this further, not only are we given gifts for the Church, it is only through these gifts and their exercise, that we can in truth claim to be in communion with Christ and His Body the Church. The charisms are given to each of us in baptism and are the links, or if you'd rather, points of contact and communion between the person and the Church. Failure to exercise these charisms means that we fail to live the very communion we profess.

In tomorrow's post I will briefly outline the "mechanics" of how we can offer these gifts to each other in a group setting.

As always, your questions, comments and criticism are most welcome.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

What is Group Spiritual Formation?

In the next several posts, I want to offer some theoretical and practical thoughts about group spiritual formation. Maybe the best place to begin is by asking what I mean by "group spiritual formation"?

All Christian life then is communal and all of us have been called by God to help, each in our own unique and personal way, foster this share life in Christ. In light of this, group formation is simply a practical means of exercising this shared responsibility given to each of us in our baptism.

Unlike say group therapy or a support group, group spiritual formation is built on a shared adherence to tradition. (In the current example, this means the Tradition of the Orthodox Church, likewise for a Catholic or Protestant group. ) But while there is a shared commitment to a tradition, the exploration of this tradition as such is not the goal of a spiritual formation group. The goal rather is to allow that tradition, as expressed by the insights of the group members, to serve as a guide for how we live our daily lives.

One touchstone of group formation then is the tradition of the Church as an objective standard. Again unlike psychotherapy that is concerned with the identification and correction of psychopathological tendencies through the strengthening of the ego, group formation is concerned with helping people stand in appreciative openness and gratitude toward the tradition of the Church. Or, to put the matter more directly, the goal of group formation is to make Orthodox Christians who are Orthodox Christians not only in name but in fact.

The other touchstone of group formation is actual life experience and the concerns that emerge from daily life (therapeutic group or support stop here). One brings to the group then not simply insights about the tradition we share, but also how our understanding of that tradition and our life experience mutually interpret each other.

Let me explain.

The Orthodox Church has a very rigorous tradition of fasting. Followed strictly, this means that for something like half the year we don't eat meat, chicken or dairy products, we don't drink alcohol, use olive oil to cook, or (if we are married) engage in sexual relations with our spouse. At the risk of understating the matter, few Orthodox Christians follow this tradition rigorously but our lack of rigor does not admit to only one explanation and, for this reason, only one solution that can be expounded in a Sunday sermon.

In a group formation setting, however, the role of fasting in my spiritual life can be explored with more specificity. How? Well, say the group reads together the various biblical references to fasting, as well as a selection of works from the fathers on fasting. If this was all they did, this would be merely a "group" sermon or catechesis on fasting. What they might also do is have discuss on the demands of their daily life and how, within the limits of that life, they are able in good conscience fulfill the ascetical tradition of the Church. Going beyond this, they might also appropriately challenge each other to a more rigorous asceticism. But just as likely they might also challenge each other to a more balanced approach to asceticism that acknowledge the concrete demands of their own life circumstances,

The point here is this: One's adherence to the Tradition is shaped not only by one's own, personal, views and life circumstances, but also how they are discerned by a small community of brothers or sisters in Christ. As we will see, grounded in a common faith and the grace of baptism, in and through the group, through our times of corporate prayer, silence, reading and mutual reflection, there emerges in and through the group a direction for my life. This isn't to shift responsibility for my life to the group. Nor does it mean that my parish priest, as the spiritual father of the community, has no role in my life. It means only that the spiritual formation group serves to help me be evermore faithfully in the appropriate application of the wisdom of Holy Tradition (which includes the Scriptures and the Fathers) to the concrete circumstances of my own life.

In tomorrow's post I will offer a theological justification of group spiritual formation as a lay ministry grounded in Holy Baptism.

As always, your questions, comments and criticism are most welcome.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

The Limits of Forgiveness

Sunday, August 31, 2008: 11th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST - Tone 2. The Placing of the Cincture (Sash) of the Most-Holy Theotokos (395-408). Hieromartyr Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage (258). St. Gennadius, Patriarch of Constantinople (471).

Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 'Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.

(Matthew 18:23-35)

Forgiveness, for me at least, is one of the hardest subject on which to preach. The struggle that I have is this: People tend to absolutize forgiveness. What I mean by that is that for many Christians, and even non-Christians, forgiveness is the most important of all Christian virtues. In fact for many, forgiveness, together with its ancillary virtues such as compassion, tolerance, and understanding, seems to have become the only virtue. As with other approaches (Christian or not) to the moral life that make, for example peace or justice, the only virtues, making forgiveness the only, or even the central, virtue of the Christian life betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the virtuous life.

In the classical Christian, and even some pre-Christian such as we see in Plato and Aristotle, understanding, virtue is a matter of balance. So for example, Plato understandings justice as the functioning of each part according to own limits and purposes. For Aristotle, courage is the means between the extremes of recklessness and cowardice. And for both Christians and non-Christians virtue is not simply a matter of balance, but the ability of the person to act or behave habitually in a right (that is, balanced) fashion.

Christ in the Gospel, or so I would argue, presents a similar understanding of the virtuous life as one of balance. The parable recounted in Matthew 18.23-35 is in response to Peter's question in v. 21: "Then Peter came to Him and said, "'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?'" Jesus respond by saying, in v. 22, "Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.'" He then proceeds to offer the parable of the wicked servant.

From an exegetical point of view the interesting thing about the parable is that it seems to contradict what He has just told Peter. Yes, initially at least, the king forgives his servant an extraordinarily large debt in response to his servant's pleadings. But while the master's forgiveness is real, it is not unconditional, it is not absolute. What do I mean by this?

When the newly forgiven servant is himself approached by his fellow servant with a request similar to that he earlier made to the king, the wicked servant not only does not forgive the debt, he has the debtor thrown into prison. Hearing of this from other servants the king calls his servant into his presence and, in response to the servant's lack of compassion, rescinds his forgiveness and delivers the wicked servant over "to the torturers" until he is able to pay all that he owes the king.

Jesus concludes by telling Peter, and us, that the "Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses." (v. 35)

So here then is problem, it would seem that divine forgiveness is not absolute, has its limits. God does not forgive the unforgiving, He does not have mercy or compassion on those who themselves lack mercy and compassion on their neighbor. Let me offer a somewhat shocking summary of the point where we find ourselves: It would seem that there are circumstance is which forgiveness is not the God-pleasing thing to do. Evidently there are times when, as in the case of the servants who in their grief reported to the king the actions of the wicked servant, when a response other than forgiveness is required of us. Or maybe it is more accurate to say, that the virtuous response is not exhausted by forgiveness.

Let me explain.

St Matthew begins this chapter with the disciples coming to Jesus and asking "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (v.1) In response Jesus calls "a little child to Him, set him in the midst" of the disciples. (v. 2) Turning to His somewhat misguided followers, Jesus tells them "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. (vv. 3-5) But this doesn't end Jesus' response. He continues His teaching on "Christian greatness" with three brief lessons that come rapidly one after the other in verses 6-19.

He begins by offering a negative example of Christian discipleship. He warns His disciples that they must have a special care of the "little ones" of faith. To lead the weak of faith into sin is a horrible crime, so horrible in fact that it would be better for me "millstone" hung around my neck and be "drowned in the depth of the sea." (v. 6) In a fallen world, the little one's of faith will be offended, "but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" For this person it would be better for them to cut off a hand or a foot or pluck out their own, and so enter into the Kingdom of God "lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire." (vv. 8, 9)

In verses 10-14, Jesus instructs His disciples to be always on the look out for the "lost sheep" among the faithful. The return of even one who has fallen away brings about more joy in Heaven than the 99 who remain faithful. Why? Because our Father in heaven desires that not even "one of these little ones should perish." (v. 14) Notice here the shift in Jesus' argument. The "little one" is no longer simply the child or the innocent among us, but the lost sheep, the sinful man or woman, who has strayed from the Gospel. Without losing sight of the innocent among us, we are also called to reconcile those who have a fallen into sin. How?

"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." (vv. 15-19)

Again, we are called to forgive, to call back those who have strayed. But we are to do so only within limits. What are these limits? Taking my cue from not only the first verse of the chapter (vv. 1-9) but also the reaction of the king to the wicked servant at the end if the chapter, I would suggest the limits of forgiveness are found when forgiveness comes at the expense of the weak and vulnerable among us. When forgiveness means tolerating harm done to the little ones of faith, when it allows for the exploitation of others in their vulnerability or weakness, then forgiveness must be with held.

Think for a moment of what it means to forgive someone who has harmed you? What are you doing in this situation but, like the merciful king in the parable, refusing to press your own legitimate advantage in the face of the other person's real and objective debt to you?

And when I refuse to forgive, what am I doing? It doesn't mean asking for my due. Rather, when I withhold my forgiveness, I not only ignore the demands of justice, but use your debt to me as a means to harm you. When I am unforgiving, I don't ask for what is owned me, I use what is owned me to punish you. So egregious is this behavior, that it evokes from the king a harsh, and seemingly unforgiving, response. But are things as they appear?

The wicked servant is willing not simply to press the demands of justice under the law, but to exploit the king's own earlier act of mercy to harm his fellow servant. The wicked servant poisons his lord's mercy by his willingness to inflict harm on his fellow servant. As the complaints of the other servants suggest, the willingness to make use of the mercy, compassion, forgiveness, understanding and freedom showed me to harm you undermines the very possibility of a peaceful communal life. We cannot live together in harmony or justice when the wicked are allowed to exploit the freedom of forgiveness to harm others.

Feelings of resentment (which no doubt the servants of the king felt for their wicked fellow servant), while not good, don't necessarily signify the lack of forgiveness. Neither does the unwillingness to trust someone or spend time in their presence necessarily mean that I have failed to forgive. Much as I wouldn't trust an alcoholic with the ability to limit his own drinking, there are people for whom my trust is likely to result in their fall.

Forgiveness then is my refusal to exploit others in their weakness, their poverty, their vulnerability.

When someone has harmed me, when by how they act or fail to act, they have indebted themselves me, forgiveness is the virtue on my part that keeps me from pressing my advantage over them. But I must do so in such a manner that a third party does not pay the cost for my action. This concern for a third party is critical because forgiveness is simply negative, it is more than simply writing off a debt owed, or not exploiting another's weakness. Forgiveness is in the service of reconciliation, of re-establishing a lost communion between God and humanity and humanity with itself.

For this reason, when I forgive someone I must do more than simply refusal to use people's own weakness against them or for my own gain, it also means that I refuse to colluded (even passively or unintentionally) with their mistreatment of others, even if they person they harm is themselves. It is not forgiving to allow others to use my gift to them to be used against others. Again, forgiving the criminal, for example, does not mean overlooking the harm he has done others, ignoring the possibility (granted more or less likely) that he will harm someone in the future, much less my remaining passive in the face of his willingness harm others. Likewise, forgiveness does not preclude reparations for harm done.

In the final analysis, though forgiveness is always more than NOT doing something; forgiveness must also be positive. The negative movement of forgiveness is ALWAYS in the service of the positive movement of reconciliation.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory