THE ORTHODOX OASIS Vol. XXXII, Issue VIII, September 2021 Rev. Fr. Andrew J. Barakos, Presiding Priest | [email protected] V. Rev. Fr. Virgil Suciu Rev. Fr. Jacob Saylor | [email protected] Office | [email protected] Tanya Garrison, Accounting | [email protected] 8202 E. Cactus Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Office: (480)991-3009 | Info Line: (480)391-8182 “4” www.assumptionaz.org Summer Office Hours | Monday-Thursday 10 AM to 2 PM LETTER FROM FATHER THE CHOICES WE MAKE It has been a real blessing for us your priests to speak and listen to our children during the youth sermon every week. If you haven’t figured it out yet, often they write the sermons, and we are just along for the ride. It’s a precious miracle that takes place because of their openness and innocence. I have always thought that God is particularly interested in planting seeds in their souls at this stage of life so He tends to assist and speak in profound and inspiring ways to the hearts of these children. Our heavenly Father intentionally created humanity to begin life as a child dependent upon another for life. Humility is our first condition. At the same time, the first things we learn is that my mother’s life is Eucharistic; her life becomes my life. Dr. Patitsas remarks how in motherhood the six questions of Christ (Matthew 25) are fulfilled. “…when were any of us more hungry, thirsty, naked, physically vulnerable, a stranger, a prisoner, than when we were in our mother’s womb? (Dr. Patitsas, The Ethics of Beauty).” Just as an infant’s body needs another to live, so also our souls need to breathe God’s Spirit to become a living-being, to grow from glory to glory and become a reflection of the Light of God within. We are created as metamorphic beings who are transformed by the Light of Christ as He visibly allowed His disciples to witness on Mt. Tabor. Every created thing starts as a seed, develops over time, has a season of bearing fruit and then dies. We also know that the environment in which life develops has a direct effect upon how something turns out. Too much sun, not enough water, surely leads to death. If our spiritual life is only watered once a week with 1½ hours of “church,” the possibility of growth, development or change, becomes very minimal. It is equivalent to planting a seed each week, giving it some water and then neglecting it so that it fails to sprout. Spiritual transformation cannot occur unless we make the decision to nurture the baptismal seed of Christ implanted in us through a life of prayer which awakens the soul. Prayer sustains the life of Christ in us and allows for spiritual growth and inner transformation. The ultimate goal of all transformation is to love one another unconditionally. Prayer is our prep-work for the Sunday Eucharist. When we cultivate the soil of our hearts through prayer during the week, seeking to live more faithfully in Christ, confessing to our Lord our weaknesses; then the seeds planted by the Spirit of God during the liturgy can begin to bear fruit in our lives. Dr. Patitsas says that an illumined heart transformed by Grace is unable to run away from suffering but can find the anointing in it - “When we behold any suffering person do we see that their suffering is a special anointing that we might, through empathy, also be privileged to share in it? Or, do we see their suffering only as a curse and seek to run from it as fast as possible? (Dr. Patitsas, The Ethics of Beauty).” 2 THE ORTHODOX OASIS WWW.ASSUMPTIONAZ.ORG There is no doubt that worship is a Theophany but to hear it in the heart takes humility, prayer, patience, perseverance and faith. St. John the Theologian wrote in his Gospel: “Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you should eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you are not having life in yourselves. The one who partakes of My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. Even as the living Father sent Me forth, and I live because of the Father, also the one who eats Me, even he shall live because of Me (Jn. 6:53-57).” In a sermon by St. John Chrysostom he speaks on how we have become strangers to heaven. “And what righteous men were to the world, strangers and dead, we are to Heaven. And what they were to Heaven, alive and acting as citizens, that we are to the world. Wherefore we are dead, because we have refused that which is truly life, and have chosen this which is but for a time.” When we become strangers to heaven, we have truly fallen from the glory of our calling as the children of the Light. Once we start reading the Bible, while maintaining a life of prayer, the words of Christ come alive to us and then the dialogue begins. The Word of God is His living presence among us. When we read the Bible with an open heart and a desire to draw near God and humbly seek His will in our lives we have made the choice to no longer remain a stranger to God. Speaking, questioning, seeking understanding and wisdom, become an active dialogue between God and us. This leads to attending an adult catechism, a bible study, a retreat or an appointment with the priest. It may also lead to speaking about God with someone who seems connected and plugged into a dialogue with God. The wise Fr. Schmemann once said, “The whole of the spiritual life is to deal with what we have been dealt.” We inherit from our ancestors propensity to particular sins, no one escapes the gene pool. Cultivating virtue is impossible without beholding holiness in another. All growth is the result of God’s Grace, but all the Grace in heaven cannot penetrate a soul that is unwilling to yield. Sin, guilt, and un-healthy shame, work to demoralize and stop any change from ever occurring but what is needed is a return to being an innocent child once again. “Truly, I say to you, unless you be turned about and become as the little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, this one is the greater in the kingdom of the heavens (Mt. 18:3-4).” Innocence allows for mistakes and gives a person the admirable ability to learn from them without having a bruised ego. Innocence sees every moment as an opportunity for discovery and knowledge. Our Lord walked on this earth with innocence, honesty, and identity. He was blatantly frank with the hypocrites and lovingly compassionate with his disciples. He cleared out the Temple with a vengeance and welcomed the children to come unto him. To humble oneself before Christ is to pray for insight that God may reveal to us that which we cannot see. We try to obey the commands of the Gospel and follow Christ, yet, how do we know if we are doing the right thing and are not in a state of delusion? Christ is needed to prune away all that is dead in us. Our Lord was found to be in the company of harlots and thieves, the very outcasts of society. He was openly judged for his associations, but that never stopped him; he was pruning. He came to cultivate the seeds of faith and repentance. Christ is an ever bright light Who reveals all that is hidden within us. With this Light we can re-discover our innocence in Christ and become as children. We can begin to learn joy again. Whatever comes our way is a God-sent lesson. His correction and chastisements remind us we are loved and not forgotten by God. He is just working in us so that the seeds planted in us every Sunday may sprout, come forth and bear fruit abundantly. +Fr. Andrew Barakos ASSUMPTION GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH, SCOTTSDALE, AZ SEP 2021 3 STEWARDSHIP | PARISH COUNCIL STEWARDSHIP – THE JOY OF GIVING! The word joy may not be the first thing one associates when making offerings to the Church; yet, there exists a special heart-felt joy in the act of giving. But finding this joy and conceptualizing our gift vividly and unequivocally as a direct act of reverence and worship to a person, and specifically to our Lord, is a journey we go through. It doesn’t necessarily come naturally. It’s not obvious or intuitive. It’s potentially an afterthought, but not the forethought guiding decision-making. The journey to reconceptualize what it means to give is a lifelong one. At its best, the Church plays a role in helping to reframe our relationship to things vis-à-vis our relationship to our Lord. This is for our salvation, and it begins by defining stewardship not merely as a vehicle for erecting buildings or painting walls, but as a means of worshipping our Lord. It is a formal acknowledgment that financial assets are not self-earned entitlements to take credit for, but rather, blessings received bestowed by God. The joy of giving also lives in the hearts of those who care deeply for the well-being of others and find it more blessed to give than it is to receive.