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Year: 2006

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Current Events

Golgotha of 1915

My thoughts and prayers are with all my Armenian friends and all Armenians throughout the world on this 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

April 24, 1915, marked the beginning of the Armenian Genocide – a crime against humanity that led to the death of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. The 500,000 Armenians who survived the horrors of this extermination by the Turks were expelled from their homes and forced to settle in various countries throughout the world.

To this day the Turks refuse to acknowledge the evils their nation committed. To this day Turks, while loudly proclaiming their ‘democratic’ values, persecute Christians.

The Turkish government turns a blind eye to Islamic hegemony in Turkey and Cyprus. Local Turkish communities persecute Christians, churches and monasteries are forcibly co-opted as mosques, clergy are beaten, killed, or must live behind locked doors. The Ecumenical Patriarchate is subject to Turkish rules, has had its property taken, and cannot freely exercise the only true faith.

The democracy of Turkey is a faí§ade covering for the dhimmitude of Christians.

May God save us from the Hagarenes.

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Saints and Martyrs

April 24 – St. George (Św. Jerzy)

Św. Jerzy, dzielny wyznawco Chrystusa, uproś nam u Boga tę łaskę, abyśmy w wierze św. utwierdzeni, nie zachwiali się w niej, miotani tysiącem pokus, zmęczeni zawodami i cierpieniami, ale abyśmy zwyciężyli wszystkie przeszkody jawne i skryte, stojące nam na drodze do zbawienia. Amen.

Everything Else

Хрiстосъ Воскресе! Воистину Воскресе!

Pascha

The Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom (Read Each Year at Pascha)

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God? Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival! Is there anyone who is a grateful servant? Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting? Let them now receive their wages! If any have toiled from the first hour, let them receive their due reward; If any have come after the third hour, let him with gratitude join in the Feast! And he that arrived after the sixth hour, let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss. And if any delayed until the ninth hour, let him not hesitate; but let him come too. And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, as well as to him that toiled from the first. To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows. He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor. The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord! First and last alike receive your reward; rich and poor, rejoice together! Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not, rejoice today for the Table is richly laden! Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one. Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith. Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hades when He descended into it. He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh. Isaiah foretold this when he said, “You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below.”

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with. It was in an uproar because it is mocked. It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed. It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated. It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive. Hell took a body, and discovered God. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated! Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down! Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is Risen, and life is liberated! Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

Homilies

Second Sunday of Easter

Poor Thomas —“ always the subject of today’s homily.

We subconsciously shake our heads and say, how could he not have faith in the Lord? Didn’t he trust his fellow Apostles?

But it wasn’t about faith nor was it about trusting his colleagues; rather, it was about belief.

Belief is more than faith. Belief is factual. Belief is the solid rock Jesus required His followers to stand on.

Sure, Thomas probably had faith, he probably had hope, and he probably trusted his friends, but what he lacked was belief. Belief is the surety. Belief is the absolute knowledge that something is true.

So Jesus said:

—Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.—

That is what we are called to do. To have absolute confidence that our Lord, Jesus Christ is God, was born, taught, suffered, died, was buried, rose from the dead, and established His Church.

My brothers and sisters,

You are called to be a know-it-all on this subject. You are called to arm yourself with the knowledge of Christ and a firm belief in His reality. You are called to believe even if it makes no sense. You are called to proclaim your belief even though it may be uncomfortable.

There are plenty of people in this world who hate a know-it-all. They especially hate people of faith, people who truly believe in the Lord, and proclaim that belief. There are even ministers, priests, and bishops in some Churches who do not believe in the reality of Jesus; they demure on the resurrection, on the Eucharist, and on basic morality. You would be in some pretty good ‘bad company’ if you didn’t believe.

P.T. Forsyth said:

The age, and much of the Church, believes in civilization and is interested in the Gospel, instead of believing in the Gospel and being interested in civilization.

We are called to be believers and to act on our belief, holding to the Gospel. We are blessed with the absolute knowledge of everlasting life, the way to live, the means to be separate from the world, to be in the world but not of it, and the world does not like that.

Jesus told us:

—Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.—

How true.

Now look at the Christian community in Jerusalem:

With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus

They did, and they converted the face of the earth, all because they believed.

John wrote in his letter:

Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

The one who believes is victorious.

My friends,

You may be rich or poor, healthy or sick. You may dance though life or carry a heavy cross. Regardless, you must take your simple faith and allow it, through the mercy and grace of God, to be transfigured into true belief.

At the beginning of the Gospel of John we read:

He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.

You, my brothers and sisters, are those people. You are those who were born of God in baptism and by the Spirit. You have the power; you have something special, because you believe. Therefore, put aside childish cares and believe.

Christ is risen, alleluia! Go and proclaim it.

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Current Events, Media, Perspective

Good sex and gender equality

On the heels of Holy Saturday comes this astounding revelation: “Sex is better when couples see one another as equals, says an international study.”

Now remember the first reading from Holy Saturday (in the PNCC it’s referred to as the First Exhortation) and its conclusion:

God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth’.

God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth.’ God said, ‘See, I give you all the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and all the trees with seed-bearing fruit; this shall be your food. To all wild beasts, all birds of heaven and all living reptiles on the earth I give all the foliage of plants for food.’ And so it was. God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Evening came and morning came: the sixth day.

God created man, male and female, in His image.

The Judeo-Christian message has taught this through the ages. Men and women are not ‘the same’ in the common definition of sameness, yet each is in the image of God. Each bears the human dignity inscribed in us by God and His likeness.

As the report shows, those who are immersed in the cultures created in and based upon Judeo-Christian values had more satisfying relationships (i.e., Western culture).

It comes down to human respect. This is the basic level of respect Christianity teaches. A person is not an object to be used and manipulated. Relationships are not something we can dream up and redefine according to our own desires. A relationship established in true Christian fashion, within marriage, male and female, is the way to go.

For those disaffected and unsatisfied Middle Easterners and Asians —“ time to throw off the false idols and prophets. Convert, life will not only be better, but it will be everlasting. 🙂

Some excepts from the story at SAGA:

Older couples who live in Western countries where there is more equality between men and women are most likely to report being satisfied with their sex lives, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. The team surveyed about 27,500 people aged between 40 and 80, including equal numbers of men and women, in 29 countries.

The respondents answered questions about how physically or emotionally satisfying their relationships are and how important sex is to them. They also were asked about their overall happiness; physical and mental health, including sexual dysfunction; their attitudes toward sex; and their attitudes toward various social and demographic factors, including age, education, income and religious affiliation.

Within relationships based on equality, couples tend to develop sexual habits that are more in keeping with both partners’ interests, said lead author Professor Edward Laumann.

Disclaimer: The study’s authors draw their own conclusions and mine are not necessarily in agreement with theirs. However, they were approaching this from the secular, do-it-if-it-feels-good perspective. People of faith tend to look at this from a whole life (now and eternally) and life in God perspective. It takes a bit of reading between the lines. For instance the line in the last paragraph quoted above: “in keeping with both partners’ interests” can be read many ways. The interests could even be selfish. I would think however that the security and harmony of a true relationship would better enable the partners to feel secure and valued.

Ad-hominem: Professor Edward Laumann draws a stupid conclusion in stating that pleasure is lower in male dominated cultures because of their focus on procreation. As I’m sure this conclusion is no more than the professor’s personal politics coming to the fore it’s almost not worth commenting on. However, that’s never stopped me before. Wouldn’t the better conclusion be that western (Christian) values, that have planted the seeds necessary for such equality, would be better protected by an emphasis on strong families and more procreation? Maybe the good professor is looking for a side job as the pied piper. Unfortunately no tune will lead the horde out of Europe.

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Saints and Martyrs

April 19 – St. Theodora (Św. Teodora)

Dziękuję Ci o Boże, żem się urodził w religji Kościoła katolickiego, który zbudowałeś na opoce apostołowie, który oświecał i wychował tyle narodów pozostających wprzódy w ciemnościach pogaństwa, który i we mnie wszczepił wiarę nadzieję i miłość, bojaźń bożą i znajomość przykazań, i tą drogą prowadzi mnie do wiecznego zbawienia. Amen.

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