Encountering God

July 24, 2009

Please pardon this hodge-podge of a post, and long too.  But it has a point.

This post, without any shadow of a doubt, really and truly describes the reality of the Faith. Granted, Father is talking about the Orthodox Church.  I would of course like to (and do) say that the Catholic Church also represents this reality, but there has been such a radical Hermeneutic of Discontinuity within our faith (mainly as a result of the “Spirit of Vatican II”, and not necessarily because of the Council itself) that I might have some doubts.  Now Catholics (some educated at YDS/HDS/DDS perhaps) are trying laying claim to God and Divine mandate, like Protestants, without giving the least respect to Tradition-Bishops, doctrine, or any of those things that really make one Catholic.  We’ve abandoned the culture that encourages prayers of intercession to the Saints, or rosaries, or novenas, or visits to the Blessed Sacrament because a “modern American Catholic” is “too cultivated” to indulge in such acts of “18th Century religiosity.”  And what do they have to fear?  Its not like Hell, for these people, really exists.  I question whether God does as well (or whether God is the name they give to justify their social liberalism and acts of “justice”).

Ideally, what should our encounter with God be like?  We have two examples.

1) This week, we celebrated the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene:

She is called “the Penitent”.   St. Mary Magdalen was well known as a sinner when she first saw Our Lord. She was very beautiful and very proud, but after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at His feet. Then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped His feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume. Some people were surprised that Jesus let such a sinner touch Him, but Our Lord could see into Mary’s heart, and He said: “Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved very much.” Then to Mary He said kindly, “Your faith has made you safe; go in peace.” From then on, with the other holy women, Mary humbly served Jesus and His Apostles. When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. No wonder Jesus said of her: “She has loved much.” After Jesus’ body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: “Mary!” It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalen, the repentent sinner.

2) We also celebrated the Feast of St. Apollinaris:

St. Apollinaris was a bishop, martyr, and possible disciple of St. Peter. He was mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. Apollinaris was born in Antioch, Turkey, and became the first bishop of Ravenna, in Italy. As such he faced nearly constant persecution. He and his flock were exiled from Ravenna by Emperor Vespasian. On his way out of the city he was identified, arrested as being the leader, tortured, and martyred. St. Apollinaris died in the first century.

We’ll leave the matter of St. James until his feast day on Saturday.

So what does contact with the living God do?  What should it do?  It should cause us to repent.  It should reveal to us the love God has for us; a love so consuming, overwhelming, and sweet that we seek to fall before God in supplication.  It should drive us to withstand and suffer all persecution for His sake.  This revelation of God should force us to radically change our lives.  Anyone who has truly opened his or herself to God has not been the same since.  Such was it with Mary Magdalene and St. Apollinaris, and so should it be with us.  It requires much from us, especially obedience (an idea some Catholics in America find loathsome).

The Collects (Mary’s from the Anglican Missal, Apollinaris’ from the ‘62 Missal…sorry, the Anglican one speaks more to my point on Mary):

Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life.

O God, the Rewarder of faithful souls, Who hast consecrated this day by the martydom of blessed Apllinaris, Thy priest, we beseech Thee:  grant to us Thy servants, that the prayer of him whose holy festival we are keeping may obtain for us the forgiveness of our sins.  Through our Lord.  Amen.

May we ask the same of God.

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Posted by T. Ambrose Nazianzus

Feast of Saint Cyril and Methodius

July 6, 2009

Today we celebrate two evangelists and missionaries, Sts. Cyril and Methodius.

cyril_methodius

First, from the Orthodox Church of America (with minor edits for clarity):

Saints Cyril and Methodius, Teachers of the Slavs, were themselves Slavs, born in Macedonia in the city of Thessalonica.

St Cyril received the finest of educations, and from the age of fourteen he was raised with the son of the emperor. Later, he was ordained as a priest. Upon his return to Constantinople, he worked as a librarian of the cathedral church, and as a professor of philosophy. St Cyril successfully held debates with iconoclast heretics and with Muslims.

Yearning for solitude, he went to Mount Olympos to his older brother Methodius, but his solitude lasted only a short while. Both brothers were sent by the emperor Michael on a missionary journey to preach Christianity to the Khazars in the year 857. Along the way they stopped at Cherson and discovered the relics of the martyr Clement of Rome (November 25).

Arriving at the territory of the Khazars, the holy brothers spoke with them about the Christian Faith. Persuaded by the preaching of St Cyril, the Khazar prince together with all his people accepted Christianity. The grateful prince wanted to reward the preachers with rich presents, but they refused this and instead asked the prince to free and send home with them all the Greek captives. St Cyril returned to Constantinople together with 200 such captives set free.

In the year 862 began the chief exploit of the holy brothers. At the request of Prince Rostislav, the emperor sent them to Moravia to preach Christianity in the Slavic language. Sts Cyril and Methodius by a revelation from God compiled a Slavonic alphabet and translated the Gospel, Epistles, the Psalter and many Service books into the Slavonic language. They introduced divine services in Slavonic.

The holy brothers were then summoned to Rome at the invitation of the Pope. Pope Adrian received them with great honor, since they brought with them the relics of the martyr Clement. Sickly by nature and in poor health, St Cyril soon fell ill from his many labors, and after taking the schema (monastic garment given to spiritually advanced monks), he died in the year 869 at the age of forty-two. Before his death, he expressed his wish for his brother to continue the Christian enlightenment of the Slavs. St Cyril was buried in the Roman church of St Clement, whose own relics also rest there, brought to Italy from Cherson by the Enlighteners of the Slavs.

And now from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

These brothers, the Apostles of the Slavs, were born in Thessalonica, in 827 and 826 respectively. Though belonging to a senatorial family they renounced secular honours and became priests. They were living in a monastery on the Bosphorous, when the Khazars sent to Constantinople for a Christianconverted many of the people. Soon after the Khazar mission there was a request from the MoraviansGospel. German missionaries had already laboured among them, but without success. The Moravians wished a teacher who could instruct them and conduct Divine service in the Slavonic tongue. On account of their acquaintance with the language, Cyril and Methodius were chosen for their work. In preparation for it Cyril invented an alphabet and, with the help of Methodius, translated the Gospels and the necessary liturgical books into Slavonic. They went to Moravia in 863, and laboured for four and a half years. Despite their success, they were regarded by the Germans with distrust, first because they had come from Constantinople where schism was rife, and again because they held the Church services in the Slavonic language. On this account the brothers were summoned to Rome by Nicholas I, who died, however, before their arrival. His successor, Adrian II, received them kindly. Convinced of their orthodoxy, he commended their missionary activity, sanctioned the Slavonic Liturgy, and ordained Cyril and Methodius bishops. Cyril, however, was not to return to Moravia. He died in Rome, 4 Feb., 869. teacher. Cyril was selected and was accompanied by his brother. They learned the Khazar language and for a preacher of the

At the request of the Moravian princes, Rastislav and Svatopluk, and the Slav Prince Kocel of Pannonia, Adrian II formed an Archdiocese of Moravia and Pannonia, made it independent of the German Church, and appointed Methodius archbishop. In 870 King Louis and the German bishops summoned Methodius to a synod at Ratisbon. Here he was deposed and condemned to prison. After three years he was liberated at the command of Pope John VIII and reinstated as Archbishop of Moravia. He zealously endeavoured to spread the Faith among the Bohemians, and also among the Poles in Northern Moravia. Soon, however, he was summoned to Rome again in consequence of the allegations of the Germanpriest Wiching, who impugned his orthodoxy, and objected to the use of Slavonic in the liturgy. But John VIII, after an inquiry, sanctioned the Slavonic Liturgy, decreeing, however, that in the Mass the Gospel should be read first in Latin and then in Slavonic. Wiching, in the meantime, had been nominated one of the suffragan bishops of Methodius. He continued to oppose his metropolitan, going so far as to produce spurious papal letters. The pope, however, assured Methodius that they were false. Methodius went to Constantinople about this time, and with the assistance of several priests, he completed the translation of the Holy Scriptures, with the exception of the Books of Machabees. He translated also the “Nomocanon”, i.e. the Greek ecclesiastico-civil law. The enemies of Methodius did not cease to antagonize him. His health was worn out from the long struggle, and he died 6 April, 885, recommending as his successor Gorazd, a Moravian Slav who had been his disciple.

Formerly the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius was celebrated in Bohemia and Moravia on 9 March; but Pius IX changed the date to 5 July. Leo XIII, by his Encyclical “Grande Munus” of 30 September, 1880, extended the feast to the universal Church. [Note: The feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is currently celebrated on February 14 in the Latin Church.]

A couple things stick out here, which I shall mention briefly.  First, the brothers associated with “both lungs” of Christianity-the Orthodox and Catholics.  If only we could work together to spread the faith (in fact, working together would be a visible sign of grace and faith in our lives…too many people on both sides of the issue are dismissive of this reality).  Second, notice how learning seemed to be the aid of the missionary activity, especially in translating the Gospel and liturgy into the Slavic language.  Once again this reminds us that all learning should be the source for good works and deeds tending to the glory of God and betterment of humanity, and not as an end in itself or worse, for our own selfish pursuits.

The Collect from the 1962 Missal:

Almighty and everlasting God, Who by the ministry of Thy blessed Confessors and Bishops Cyril and Methodius didst vouchsafe to call the Slavic peoples to the knowledge of Thy name: grant that we who glory in their festival may be joined with them in fellowship.  Through our Lord.  Amen

Readings:

Heb 7:23-27, Ps. 131:16-17, Ps. 109:4, Lk. 10:1-9, Ps. 67:36, Mt. 10:27

(Editors Note: I’ll do my best to include the ‘62 Missal Mass readings with each post.  After the bio and the collect, feel free to do the readings, in order, and tease out the threads).

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Posted by T. Ambrose Nazianzus

Conversion Pt. 2 – The Response!

July 1, 2009

I had posted an article earlier this week concerning converts to Orthodoxy.  You can read that here.  I believe I borrowed it from the Orthodox Seminarian at “To and Through St. Vlad’s,” to give credit where credit is due.  At least it wasn’t for foul-mouth Doug Kmiec again.

In any case the article was interesting enough to warrant a response here.

It was even featured on Byzantine, TX, which I follow on a daily basis!  As should you.

At present, I am thinking up a response/post for our friends above.  I suffer too much from the desire to see unity and connections between things, than to acknowledge the glaring differences.  To that end, I always defend my Orthodox-o-philia by using JPIIs idea of “breathing with both lungs.”  In the face of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy are siblings.  Taken one against the other, however, the rifts become obvious.

So I shall go on thinking, and once I have something to say about it, I’ll post it.

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Posted by T. Ambrose Nazianzus

Disappointment

July 18, 2008

I understand that too many conflicts have been started when Christians fight against each other. The turmoil that seems to hit the Holy Land on special feast days supports this. At least once every six months, we hear about a conflict been Orthodox and Catholics, Orthodox and Armenians (the latest being the brandishing of blessed palms on Palm Sunday as weapons!), etc., etc.

I might have mentioned this church, when talking about my Catholic friend who was attending it (I mentioned, jokingly, that they would make her re-baptize, because her Catholic baptism wasn’t “valid”).

As it turns out, she was rebaptized (granted, it doesn’t count…we acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins…and as always, once Catholic, always Catholic).

For some reason, this Church resonates with young adult Catholics. I don’t think they are actively seeking to convert them, but there is something this place is doing that the Church is not.

Or is that true? Here is an extend quote from Richard John Neuhaus from this months First Things:

“‘The big difference,’ he says, ‘is that they [evangelical groups] aim at the weakest Catholics while we aim at the strongest evangelicals.’ The claim is that evangelicals who are more theologically versed and religiously committed are more open to Catholicism, while Catholic who become evangelicals were, for whatever reason, alienated from Christianity. Put differently, religiously serious evangelicals are more likely to become Catholic, while religiously lapsed Catholics are more likely to become evangelicals.“

From what I can tell, she was a cradle Catholic and not exactly savvy as concerns her religious tradition’s theological tradition. Faith in general is difficult to sustain in our world, and in a sense I am happy she has found something that sustains her. I can only hope, after she takes a really hard look at this particular tradition (having wiped her eyes of the emotionalism that sustains it), that she realizes how much more viable, both intellectually and spiritually, the Catholic religious tradition is.

Pray for her. And while you’re at it, add me in there as well!

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Posted by T. Ambrose Nazianzus

“He went about doing good.”

June 15, 2008

Here is an extended quote from page 48 of Donald Spoto’s Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi.

“Conversion is, then, a response to God, Who invites us to a state of complete freedom, away from everything that is hostile to His goodness and mercy. The call one hears is not primarily or simply an encouragement to amend one’s life or to follow a particular religious path. The call Jesus extended to his disciples, for example, was not religious-it was resoundingly secular. It was a summons to acknowledge God’s unconditional love of us as individuals; and it was an invitation to proclaim that love to the world by acts of caring, forgiveness and compassion for others, by refusing to demand one’s prerogatives at the expense of others and by rejecting vengeance and reprisal. The New Testament summarizes the entire mission and message of Jests in one calm phrase that is deeply moving in is secular simplicity: ‘He went about doing good.’

We begin to acknowledge, accept and know God-always imperfectly and darkly-when we seek to be free of our idolatry of self, love others unselfishly and accept our existence as meaningful, despite its unmanageability. When we renounce our fear of life and give up trying to have it under our control-that is, when we acknowledge our contingency and utter dependence on God-then God comes to us and turns us toward Himself. Seen in this light, conversion means not only a turning away from one’s past but entrusting oneself to the unexpected, uncharted way into incalculable future in which God comes to us. “

I tend to think that there are good Catholics and bad Catholics. I think its very possible for a good Catholic to love the Extraordinary Form, like Pope Benedict, and still have gay friends. I know a particular Catholic who, without ever saying it, was somewhat dismissive of the death of Tim Russert because he hadn’t done enough, in his positon as a Catholic, to promote it (or he was a bad Catholic, or something like that). Essentially, he accused him of being a bad Catholic, and thus, didn’t particularly care that he had died.

This undermines his position, however, since its generally a very unCatholic thing to say. Why?

Our Catholic faith makes is explicit (and the Orthodox faith makes it very explicit) that its our duty to pray for the souls of the dead. Those in Purgatory, or further below, cannot pray for themselves (though they can pray for us). Of course, in every Mass, we typically offer prayers for the dead, but we should also pray for them on our own. I, for instance, have added prayers for the dead into my morning offering, and you can bet that I sent a “same day” prayer up for Mr. Russert.

Sadly, I think that some Catholics (and some Protestants) follow the letter, and not the spirit, of the faith. Conversely, I think there may be too many Catholics who follow the spirit, and forget the “letter” altogether. Its a fine line we have to walk, especially considering the dynamic nature of our faith.

To make this point clearer, feel free to take a look here, and here. If anyone can find the converse of the “God Warrior” here present (i.e. “Anti-God Warrior”?), feel free to let me know.

And while I’m at it, here is what happens when the spirit overwhelms the letter.

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Posted by T. Ambrose Nazianzus