During last year's 'Step by Step through Great Lent and Holy Week' course, the book 'Great Lent - Journey to Pacha' by Fr Alexander Schmemann was a recommended read by Fr. Leslie Kostoglou and was available for purchase at our book stand.
As we begin our journey of Lent 2010, we are again recommending this book... but this time here on this blog. For those who read it last year, it opened a lot of eyes and minds to this the most important period in our Greek Orthodox Church...and for the world.
If you have a yahoo or google account you can read a preview of this bookhere.
And can be purchased online at the following bookstores:Crossroads andBooktopia.
At the threshold of Lent, we deal with the human person: the mind, the gut and the heart.
Forgiveness is a repentance and involves a changing of everything about you that is off the mark and bringing it back to be Christ centered. Changing your attitude and your mind.
Fasting involves the whole of you. Your eyes, your ears, your mouth and your gut.
Jesus Christ says today, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
We are given these 3 things and are ushered into Lent, to work out how to be a human being, in reference to God.
Just a reminder that you can join st gerasimos parish's monthly mailing list by sending your email here. You will receive the monthly programme with online information links and other news and events we want to tell you about! You can also subscribe to this blog by adding your email to the left. You will receive the latest post straight to your inbox.
You might be wondering what this picture is all about? We found this sermon on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America's website and enjoyed it thoroughly...so we decided to share it here as we enter the first week of lent.
by Tim Alikakos
If you ever happen to go hiking on the hills of New England you might run into a very peculiar animal called the ermine. Most likely you have never heard of this creature. I wanted to bring an ermine here for you to see tonight but I didn’t think bringing a furry creature of the wild in this chapel would be the wisest thing to do. I wanted you to see an ermine because it is famous for its beautiful white fur. I wanted you to see that if you let the ermine run free in this chapel it would not go anywhere near places where there is dust or grease or anything that might stain its fur. The ermine takes great pride in that fur and it has developed a very strong instinct to keep itself extremely clean. Infact, so strong is that instinct that the ermine will suffer capture rather than defilement. Hunters who know of this will smear filth over the paths that the ermine would normally choose to escape by and it falls into their trap. The result, is the death of an innocent little animal; a flaw of nature one might say. But at the same time, by such a death the ermine wins its battle of trying to keep itself clean. It has managed to preserve the purity of its fur as its final offering to this world. It is because the ermine engages itself in a life-long battle of preserving its purity that such a death translates into the ultimate victory.
There is something to be learned from this little creature of God. We learn that there is a definite connection between purity and the way we view death. The tradition of the Church hints to this connection by placing on the commemoration of the dead on the seventh day of this week we call the Pure Week. The small tradition of sprinkling white sugar powder on the kolyva offering for the dead is no accident. The Third SaturdayofSouls serves to remind us that the connection between preservation of purity and death is as close for us Christians as it is for the ermine. For the ermine which is captured because it keeps its fur clean, death means victory, the end of a battle well fought. In the same way, our Christian life is a battle to preserve the purity we received at baptism. In a battle well fought, we can also view death as the ultimate victory.
Preserve the purity of your baptismal garment and death will become your victory. Since when did purity take on such a crucial role? We always hear of fasting, prayer, alms-giving to be the means to holiness. But at Matins we hear that to be holy in the way that God is Holy means to be pure and undefiled in the way that by nature God is pure and undefiled. Therefore, the preservation of purity is exactly the goal of fasting, and the goal of prayer, and the goal of alms-giving. By fasting we purify our bodies from rich foods,and by prayer we purify our minds by constantly thinking about God. By alms-giving we purify our hearts from every attachment to worldly possessions. But ultimately, because of the Fall, man could never entirely preserve his purity from sin and thus deliver himself from the bondage of death. Complete purification for sins and deliverance from death could have only been brought about by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself .
According to the author of the Letter to the Hebrews in this Saturday’s epistle, purification for sins encompasses all of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The incarnation of the Word, the rushing in of the Kingdom of God, the miracles, the Cross, the Resurrection, the gift of eternal life, all these events collapse into one deed: the purification for sins. Christ’s work as a man was to deal decisively with the problem of human sin. He made purification for sins in order for us through baptism to be reconciled to God, in order for us to be able to approach God, in order for us to be able to see God and live eternally. This He promised in the Sermon on the Mount when He said: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”. This purity of heart becomes possible only through Jesus Himself, His cross and resurrection, His making Himself purification for sins.
Christ, through His Church, continues the work of purification which only He can bring about for us. The miracle which we commemorate on the SaturdayofSouls attests to that very fact that Christ continues to intervene in human history in order to keep the purity of His faithful unspotted and their salvation intact. History tells us that in the year 362, emperor Julian the Apostate tried to defile the faithful of the city of Constantinople by replacing all the foods in the market place with his own foods that were sprinkled with the blood from sacrifices. His plan entailed that since Christians would not bow down to idols they would unwillingly defile themselves by partaking of the sacrifices to idols. In order to prevent this defilement, St. Theodore of Tyron appeared to the then Patriarch Eudoxios and instructed him to boil wheat - in his country they called kolyva - and to give it to the faithful to eat instead. Patriarch Eudoxios did as he was told, and all the Christians of the city were kept undefiled in their Lenten fast.
The intervention of Saint Theodore was instigated by the Lord Himself. His task of purification for our sins will continue until His Second Coming. In our baptism we were given a completely pure, white baptismal garment, yet the battle of the preservation of its purity and of its effectiveness over death, will continue until we depart from this temporal life. Through the sacrament of confession Christ continues His work in the cleansing of our sins. Through the gift of tears we call upon Jesus to wash away our iniquities and to create in us a clean heart. Through Holy Communion He purges away our sins and grants us eternal life. We are given the purity purchased for us by the very blood of our Savior. Preserve this purity and death will indeed be your victory.
The gospel reading for the Third SaturdayofSouls tells us that the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. Jesus through His cross and resurrection stands as Lord of the eternal day that lies beyond death. At the same time He is Lord over every temporal institution like the day of the Sabbath. He is Lord of every country, every culture, every institution, every circumstance of life and death. In all walks of life He is busy clearing by His own blood a path that leads to Him. In the seemingly most desperate situations, Christ is there to point the clear way through the filth that may surround us or the obstacles that are placed in our way. He is there to take us out of despair, to cleanse us once again, and to lead us on His path of purity so that His sacrifice on the Cross will not go in vain.
No longer can our fallen nature stand as an excuse to prevent us from loving God, or from keeping His commandments, or from maintaining the purity of our body and soul. No longer can we make excuses that in this kind of world we are not able to remain true to our pure Orthodox Christian identity. Merely the fact that the Son of God accepted to die on the Cross in order to bring about the purification of sins makes the availability of a clear path all too important. In fact, the abundance of filth that we claim to be in the world especially today, only makes it easier to point out that one path that is truly clear. Follow that path, and unlike following all others, you will start seeing that death is no longer the inevitable tragedy of our fallen nature, but the victory in a battle well fought.
It is certainly not an easy path to take. All of us here know this very well. Following the purifying path of Christ means sacrifice as it did for the ermine, and as it did for Jesus Himself. Even if we do not suffer physical death as they did, we might have to nail on the cross our pride, our passions, our weaknesses, and our comfort.. But with every strike of the nail Jesus is there cleansing us from all the stains that those nails might cause. Having carried His Cross first He carved the clear path for us. And at the end of time He will turn around, and show His life-giving face to all of us who have followed Him. We only need to have the purity of heart to be able to see Him. It would indeed be terrible if besides all our efforts we never got to see the face of our Creator because of our uncleanliness. St. John Chrysostom expresses this fear best when he says: “I would not mind the fires of hell as much as I would mind not seeing the sweet face of Jesus”.
Remember the ermine as it escapes the filth that the hunter smears in its regular paths. It falls into the hunter’s hands thus realizing by being captured, the purpose of its life: to keep itself clean and unspotted. Christ has given us our own spotless pure garment at baptism washed by His own precious blood. He Himself continues to cleanse each one of us through His Church. By being Lord of the Sabbath He has assured that in there is no place in either side of death where a clear path will not be available for us in order to preserve our purity until the end. In the battle of this Pure week, we look to the Saturdayof the souls and see that death is nothing more but the ultimate victory. We should pray that the purity of the ermine will decorate the soulsof those who have left us behind. We should also pray that our own offering to Christ will be as pure and spotless as the offering we received from Him at baptism, so that on that eternal day, with the clear vision of a pure and contrite heart we too shall see God and live. Amen.
We are all given the riches of His Kingdom and we go and waste it in the mud. Yet even in this mud God is with us, where we come to our senses and repent.
We are heredity sons and daughters of God. The father's treasure wasn't found when the son left, but when he returned to his Father.
We like to support and make mention of courses being held at other parishes.
For 4 weeks in the month of March the topic of Parenting will be discussed at St Ioannis Church in Parrammatta.
We have admittedly been a bit slack in posting this message to our readers, as the course started last week... but rest assured late comers are welcome!
Held on Tuesdays at 7pm - For more information, please visit St Ioannis site.
Our approach to Lent and Pascha has begun. Last year we had the 'Step by Step through Lent and Holy Week' course. This year we hope to blog some words as we together walk slowly towards the great Passion of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Every week is another step in this journey.
We begin with the Sunday of Zaccheus (Sun 17th Jan)
"Seek, search, want God - everything is dependent on this. No matter what the condition of your life, your circumstances, the context or what place...just desire God.
One cannot reach God with ones brain. That is impossible. One reaches God with ones desire. That is possible.
The place where ones desire is met, is in the Liturgy. In the liturgy ones thirst for God is quenched."
Yes it is nearly the end of January (can you believe it?!), but we hope that everyone had a good break.
For our first post of the year, and quite fitting, we have a contribution made by one of our parishioners. A reflection of maybe a new year a couple of years ago.
We invite anyone (you don't have to be a part of any "group") who wishes to contribute an experience, a story, a reflection, to feel free and email us at stgerasimosmail@yahoo.com.au with what you want to say. This is most assuredly a place where people can talk.
“What does the song ‘Hristos Anesti’ say and
mean?”
I remember my mother’s face when I asked her
this question.
I have been flicking through some old
keepsakes and I came across my best friend’s published testimony of her return
to her Catholic faith. I kept it because it was inspiring and looking back at
her story, I felt lucky (or should I say blessed) to have been a first hand
witness. It made me reminisce.
We were and remain interstate friends.
Finding we were both on a parallel path back to God, we constantly surprised
each other. Learning about the religions we were baptized into we had similar
discoveries, experiences, fears and confusion. We had no one else that we felt
we could talk to.
Thirty minutes was all I could spare (in
my busy twenty year old life!) to go to church for the Easter midnight service.
My annual effort had allowed me to work out that this was the right timing
needed to secure a good standing position outside the church.
How did I get to be on this journey
alongside my friend? Standing in my prime position spot, I heard what I know
now as the Easter sermon. I listened to the priest speak about Light, while he
himself shone. That was the last Easter service I would spend outside. I wanted
to spend it inside the Church here on.
My question to my mother that night had a
response of shock (as you can imagine!). It was assumed I had learned these
things a long time ago, although never having understood the language it was
spoken in.
I made a new year’s resolution that for
’06 I would try and go to church on Sundays. To the building that God
lived in. For no other reason other than – it just felt necessary.
The weekly sermon was the only thing I
could understand. I spent the rest of the time just looking at everything
around me. Just listening to the sounds. Thinking it was beautiful. But at the
same time I sat, bewildered and with ever-growing feelings of being left behind
from something amazing.
In the world we live in, there is a
common saying that ‘practice makes perfect’, ‘keep at something and
you’ll get it’ for all aspects of our lives. I was starting from scratch
and I knew that although I felt left behind, left out and that I had a lot of
catch up to do – my baby steps were ok. It was the only way I could walk.
It was during these Sunday church
services that I heard my first gospel reading. I stopped being scared and
bought a bible to start reading. Not knowing where to begin…I read it front
(and eventually) to back cover. I discovered what familiar words I heard meant.
I found out about the Trinity and the Holy Eucharist was revealed to me. I hid
many tears. It was also where I heard about a course given about “liturgy”.
Normally I would have run a mile or two,
in the other direction at even a suggestion to me like this course. I’d pull
out every excuse under the sun, to get out of breaking my regular (albeit lazy)
daily routine. I was anxious, stressed and nervous, but I went and found out
that I had been part of liturgy all along. It was for me: mind blowing.
At the course’s end, I left with the most
valuable book in my hands. ‘The Divine Liturgy’ that would now teach, carry and
inspire. A guide for all my new first times, within the church and outside its
walls. Most of all, it made me feel as a part of a mystery… I’m discovering to
be heaven on earth.
It meant the world to me to take my best friend
on a tour of my church, while she was in town for Christmas holidays. I was
able to share with her where my parallel journey led to and looked like. My
friend who inspired me to continue my baby steps, towards The Inspiration. To
the Heart of where I finally heard God knocking within the walls of my heart.
Where He had been all along.
I am sure the cliche line of "where did the year go?", is being said more and more now as the year of 2009 draws to a close. We of Leichhardt fellowship would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a safe and healthy 2010. And to also say a big thank you to our readers out there in Australia and abroad. We look forward to continuing this blog and our mailing list in 2010.
Most importantly December 25th is the day that our God, "who for us and for our salvation, came down from heaven...and became human". We pray that everyone has a merry Christmas and that we come together (as the word "Christmas" suggests) to say a big thank you to God.
Before we go for the year, and as a side note: we had an overwhelming reply to our poll of 'why you didn't attend the State Youth Conference'. It seems with the result, that not only did people forget the conference was on...but forgot to poll their vote as well (thank you to the 3 people who voiced their reasons)! Maybe we'll just stick to the theory that everyone who reads this blog, attended the conference...and we'll stay away from the polls in future...
Sitting in the Crows Nest hall listening to the "youth" of NSW making their final presentations, a thought crossed many minds: "...its a good turn out...but is this all the youth of NSW?" If not in these words and at that moment, the question was whispered to the person sitting close by at some point during the day.
At the 9th State Youth Conference held on 9th -11th October this year, the youth that did attend were a blessing. Firstly, if there was any more who decided to attend, the lunch hall could not have been any more intimate. But most importantly the youth were a blessing to each other. A month has nearly gone by, but that percentile of youth walked away energised (if that is the right word to capture the feeling of the day). So much so that the request for an annual youth conference was raised!
We have fellow Leichhardt parishioners who attended the day, contributed to this blog entry (see below post) with what they had to say about their experience at the conference.
Did you attend the conference? What were your feelings from the day? Was it your first time? And would you go again? Comment with your thoughts.
To quench our curiosity, youth to youth (by no means will any reports be made), we have set up a poll on the right side bar to ask:
What kept you away?
Please tell us. It will definately be interesting to see the results next month. Until then...
