Below are three of Fr. Abbot's homilies: for the Feast of the Nativity of the Forerunner, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, and the 8th Sunday After Pentecost, 2008.
(June 24, 2008)
Today we celebrate the nativity of St John the Forerunner, the only saint on our liturgical calendar besides the Mother of God (and, of course, the Lord Jesus) whose nativity is specially celebrated. Most saints are celebrated on the day of their death, which is, as it were, the day of their "birth" into the new and everlasting life of the Kingdom of Heaven. But St John is one of the few whose earthly life was so important in the mystery of our salvation that his birth as well as his death is celebrated.
It is fitting on this day of his nativity to recall these words of Jesus: "among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist" (Mt. 11:11). One can hardly imagine higher praise. Yet Jesus immediately adds: "yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he." What does that mean? It almost sounds as if Jesus is putting him down immediately after He raised him up. But Jesus is doing a thing here similar to that which He did concerning his own mother. When someone blessed her for giving birth to Jesus and nursing Him, Jesus responded that the higher blessing is in hearing the word of God and keeping it. He wasn't putting Mary down, because she in fact heard the word of God and kept it better than anyone else on earth. So she was doubly blessed for being both the mother and the most faithful disciple of the Lord.
It is similar with St John. Being the greatest of men on a merely human level cannot compare with the greatness and the glory that belong to even the most lowly member of the Kingdom of Heaven. But John was not only the greatest of men; he would also be great in the Kingdom of Heaven, honored as one of the Church's greatest saints. So as long as John would remain only humanly great, he (like any one of us) would remain less than the least in Heaven. But since his whole life was dedicated to God and to the coming of the Messiah, he was great both on Earth and eventually in Heaven.
Let us now take a look at this great man of Earth and saint of Heaven. His greatness was intimated even before his conception. This event was announced by the Archangel Gabriel, who appeared to the priest Zachariah, and something of John's mission was described to him. He would be an ascetic, that is, he would live a rough and demanding life, without even the comfort of a little wine, which was not a luxury but a staple in that time and culture. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb, and this would enable him not only to live a holy life but also to fulfill his mission as a prophet, that is, as one who speaks for God. John was to "turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God… and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." This describes well his mission, and this is why, in the Eastern tradition, St John isn't usually called the "Baptist" but rather the "Forerunner." He is to go before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah. He is to announce the One who will baptize in the Holy Spirit and in fire. It is true that much of John's claim to fame comes from being the one who baptized Christ in the Jordan, which event occasioned the first public manifestation of the All-holy Trinity. But that is a specific element of his larger mission of preparing the way of the Lord as his Forerunner. His preaching was also an important element of his mission, and that is something that is emphasized in Zachariah's inspired canticle which was a prophecy about the Forerunner's mission as they were celebrating his birth.
This newborn child was named "John" over the objections of his relatives, because it was the name that the angel said was to be given him. Zachariah had learned the hard way the consequences of doubting the angel's words, so he wasn't going to disobey a second time! He insisted that the boy's name was to be John. The name "John" means "the Lord is gracious," and this can be taken to mean that the advent of the Forerunner is also the prelude to the time of grace which Christ would soon inaugurate.
Zachariah, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to his new son, granted him by the graciousness of God: "And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways." Again we have here a concise summary of the mission of the Forerunner, as prophet and as, well, forerunner! But what will he say when he speaks for the Lord and what will he do to prepare the way of the Lord as his forerunner? Zachariah continues: he will "give knowledge of salvation to his people through forgiveness of their sins."
We ought to dwell on this a bit, for we come here to the heart of John's prophetic ministry. The two main elements in this part of the prophecy are "knowledge of salvation" and "forgiveness of sins." He would give knowledge of salvation to the people by pointing to the Savior. When John first appeared at the Jordan, many thought that he himself was the Messiah, but if he had accepted their accolades he would not be giving them knowledge of salvation. He had to decrease while Jesus, the true Messiah, had to increase. But "knowledge of salvation" doesn't consist merely in knowing who the Savior is. Zachariah's canticle says that knowledge of salvation comes through forgiveness of sins. This means salvation isn't a knowledge of facts, something that you can learn in a book, even in the Book of the Scriptures. It is knowledge in the Hebrew sense of the term that implies a personal and even intimate relationship. Sin touches the deepest part of our soul, the secret place where our guilt and shame dwell. To know salvation is to receive forgiveness of sin, and the only way to receive forgiveness of sin is to know in a personal way our Lord Jesus Christ, who, as we just heard in last Sunday's Gospel, has authority to forgive sin.
This knowledge of salvation through forgiveness of sin is so important that all of John's preaching can be summed up in a single word: repent! And he preached in the most direct and unambiguous way. He never said: "Hey, don't worry, relax, everything's going to be OK. God is a tolerant fellow, so he'll let you off the hook. Enjoy yourself, just be kind to animals and save the trees and try not to hurt anyone while you're having your fun." No, instead he said, or rather thundered, this: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! You brood of vipers, bear fruit that befits repentance! Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!"
St Paul confirms this in the epistle chosen for this feast: "It is full time now for you to wake from sleep… the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Rom. 13:11-14).
The Church needs to hear the preaching of the Forerunner today, the preaching of him whom Christ called the greatest man on earth, and who is now among the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And the Church needs more forerunners to prepare the way of the Lord; she needs more prophets, who are not afraid to call sinners to repentance, to give them knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. The Church needs more men and women who will turn people's hearts back to the Lord their God, and who will turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.
We know there is much evil in the world today, and to our shame we must admit that there is also much evil in the Church, as the revelation of various scandals testifies (not only pedophilia, but homosexual activity, embezzlement, and a widespread disregard for the tradition and teaching of the Magisterium among bishops, priests, and laity as well.) Too often and for too long the leaders of the Church have turned a blind eye to, or even covered up or lied about all these evils, but the searching Light of God is finally exposing them, for only wounds that are exposed to the Physician can be healed. The Lord wants to save his people and to make all things new.
The Forerunner is proclaiming once again that the axe is laid to the root of the tree, and fruitless trees will be cut down and burned. He is telling the Church to recover her knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of her sins. The Church will always and essentially be the pure Bride of Christ, but her sinful members have done much to soil her wedding dress, and have given such scandal and bad example to the world that some people decide to leave her and others refuse to join her. All this will have to be accounted for on Judgment Day.
So let us heed the Apostle who calls us to wake up and put on the armor of Light. And let us heed the Forerunner who calls us to repent. His name is John, "the Lord is gracious." May the Lord be gracious to us and forgive us our sins, that having gained the knowledge of salvation we may, like St Zachariah, be filled with the Holy Spirit and intone joyful canticles unto the Lord.
(June 29, 2008)
Since today's feast of the holy prime Apostles Peter and Paul falls on a Sunday, the befuddled preacher has four readings to deal with, which seem to point in all different directions (Rom. 15:1-7; 2Cor. 11:21 — 12:9; Mt. 9:27-35; Mt 16:13-19). We'll see what we can do.
The feast of SS Peter and Paul can be understood in various ways, and one of them is that of Christian unity. About a week ago, it was publicized that His Beatitude, the Major Archbishop (some would say Patriarch, since that is what he's supposed to be—but isn't yet, canonically, anyway) of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Lubomyr Husar, has proposed to the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople that there be a kind of "dual unity" for Eastern Catholics, who would thus be in union with both Constantinople and Rome. The Patriarch seems favorable to it. It is hoped that this will advance the cause of unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Now outside of Christian theology, "dual unity" would seem a contradiction in terms. Our own founder, Abbot Boniface, actually proposed the same thing many years ago, though he called it "dual loyalty," which perhaps makes a little more sense. Whether this is actually possible in practice remains to be seen, for there are formidable obstacles, and it is quite likely that even if this union is effected with the Church of Constantinople, other Orthodox Churches, notably the Russians, would fiercely oppose it.
But at least it is an effort to get Peter and Paul back together, as it were. Peter is often associated with the Catholic Church, since his successors are the Popes of Rome. And Paul's main territory of evangelization was Greece and modern-day Turkey, which are under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The icon of this feast depicts the Apostles Peter and Paul embracing, and this is really what Christ wills for his people and his Church. It is coincidental, yet providential perhaps, that we find in the epistle reading for this Sunday, which was not chosen with the feast of Peter and Paul in mind, the following: "May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 15:5-6). One of the great historical failures of Christianity has been precisely that: we have not lived in harmony with one another, we have not glorified God with one voice and one heart.
Perhaps in this context we can look briefly at the Gospel for the Sunday. Two blind men approach Jesus. If we want to allegorize, we can call them the leaders of Eastern and Western Christianity. They're blind because of the historical failures of their respective Churches, and they can't see the way to true unity without compromising things they think ought not be compromised. But they've done the right thing: they've come—together—to Jesus, the only One who has the solution to insoluble problems, and the very One who prayed to the Father that we all might be one, even as He and the Father are one. Before He healed them, Jesus asked, appropriately: "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to Him: "Yes, Lord." So He replied: "According to your faith, be it done to you." Then their eyes were opened and they could see clearly.
Perhaps in the efforts made in the cause of Christian unity, those involved in the theological dialogues have simply been trying to figure out how they could do it, how they could achieve their noble but seemingly impossible objectives. Perhaps they haven't realized sufficiently that they in fact cannot do this. They have, like the blind men, realized that they have a serious problem that needs healing. But maybe they still have to hear that question from Jesus: "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Jesus has to be the one to do it, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And they have to believe it, and then, according to their faith it will be done for them and for the whole Church.
All things can be done by the Lord, yet we humans pose a unique problem for Him. I venture to say that the main obstacle to unity, which is deeper than any theological differences, is the stubbornness of mind and heart that comes from human free will, which is something that God will not just steamroll over in order to accomplish his plan. It seems clear that at least some of the leaders of the Churches really don't want unity—if it means budging an inch from their own positions on whatever issue. Better to say "We're the true Church and you're not" than to make a little sacrifice of one's prestige or preferences to see how the Lord might wish to grant a creative solution which would bring all sides to greater humility and charity. It has been said that a great council of all the churches could never be held for the simple reason that no one would be able to agree on the seating arrangements, for everyone would be maneuvering for the highest places to secure their authoritative positions and to prevent any show of weakness or of inferiority to another church.
But this is not a modern phenomenon, nor even a medieval one. Even Peter and Paul had their confrontations, and Paul and Barnabas. But in the early Church they didn't let their disagreements turn into mutual condemnations and clear-cut separations. I think perhaps there was more openness to the grace of the Holy Spirit back then, since the first Pentecost was still within their own memories. But there's no excuse for hatred or condemnation in any age. The very least we can do, while seeking the ever-elusive full unity, is to have respect and charity toward one another, and to give up suspicion and accusation. We're all supposed to be serving the same Lord, living by the same Gospel.
Speaking of the Gospel, let us turn to the Gospel of the feast. Here we see that, in the quest for Christian unity, the issue of the primacy of Peter and his successors cannot be ignored. This seems to be a major stumbling block in ecumenical dialogues, but we cannot dismiss the words of Christ for the sake of unity, for then it will not be a true unity at all, but only a superficial compromise. When Peter made his profession of faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus could have limited his response to his blessing of Peter and his acknowledgement that what Peter came to believe was revealed to him by the heavenly Father. That in itself is the highest praise. But Jesus went still further: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church… I will give you [singular] the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven…" The one Church of Jesus Christ must be built on the rock (Gk. petra) that is Peter (Gk. Petros). Why? Because that's what Jesus said! One can like it or not, but our Lord Jesus Christ said he would build his Church on Peter, the head of the Apostles. There can be many churches or organizations that claim to follow Jesus, but Jesus Himself said that his Church would be the one built on Peter the Rock. It is evidently God's will, then, that this Petrine ministry of leadership in his Church would continue, and the gates of Hell would not prevail.
It may be questioned whether or not the way the papacy has historically developed has been exactly what the Lord intended (but it can't be too far off the mark, because then Hell would have prevailed), and here is the point from which dialogue toward Christian unity can proceed. But the Church of Christ is not a Church without a visible center of unity, without a shepherd whom Jesus commands to feed his sheep, as He did to Peter alone. Somehow, the successors of Peter must have an indispensable role to play in the unity of all Christians who wish to be faithful to the Gospel.
I haven't said much about St Paul yet, or the epistle reading which recounts his sufferings and revelations. If Peter represents the foundational unity of the Church, and hence its hierarchical and sacramental order, then Paul represents the no less indispensable ascetical and mystical dimensions. No one Apostle can fully represent the whole mystery of the Church, but Peter and Paul together represent a fair summary of it.
We have much more information about St Paul's life than we do about St Peter's, simply because St Paul wrote about his experiences, and St Luke wrote about them, too, in the Acts of the Apostles (as well as a bit about Peter), since he actually traveled with Paul for a while. We hear in the epistle today how much St Paul suffered for Christ, how his faith sustained him through all that, and how, because he was specially favored by the Lord, he was given more sufferings still, so he wouldn't become proud!
If we look to Peter to learn something about the ecclesiology of the Church of Christ, we must look to Paul to learn about the life of daily faithfulness to Christ, how to live and die for Him, how to endure sufferings joyfully and how to grow in grace so that we finally reach that much-desired state in which we can say at last: I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me.
As we continue to celebrate this feast, let us pray not only for the unity of the Churches but for our own deeper union with Christ through prayer and the sacraments, through charity and mercy and taking up our crosses without complaint. Thus we will ultimately find ourselves in that eternally blissful state in which we are one in Christ, and in which He and the Father and the Spirit are one, in the Kingdom of Heaven.
(July 6, 2008)
The miracle that is proclaimed in today's Gospel (Mt 14:14-22) is significant in several ways. It is the only miracle account that appears in all four Gospels. It is significant also as a fulfillment of prophecy concerning the messianic age, and it is itself a kind of prophecy or foreshadowing of the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.
The Messiah, it was said, would provide food for all people (Is. 25:7). The Prophet Elisha also prefigured Jesus' miracle by performing one of his own, though on a much smaller scale. He fed a hundred men with twenty loaves (2Kgs. 4:42-44), while Jesus fed 5000 men, plus many women and children, with five loaves.
In St John's version of the multiplication of the loaves, the people demanded some sort of sign that Jesus was the Messiah, and they referred specifically to the manna in the desert, as if they were challenging Him to produce the same: "What sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? … Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'he gave them bread from heaven to eat'" (Jn. 6:30-31). Jesus went on to tell them what the true Bread from Heaven was, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
Jesus was, like Moses, confronted with a large hungry crowd in the wilderness. He was initially, perhaps, in no mood to deal with more crowds. At that moment He was grieving the murder of his cousin John, whom Herod had just killed. Jesus went to that deserted place with his disciples, so he could have a bit of peace and solitude. But wherever He went, the crowds would follow, and in this case they were already waiting for Him when He arrived. But the Lord was not thinking of Himself; He did not say, "Leave me alone. I need some time for Myself." No, the evangelist tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds He had compassion on them and even healed their sick.
The disciples were trying to have a little compassion on their Master, so when the day began to wear on and evening approached, they suggested that He dismiss the crowds so they could go to the nearby villages and buy some food for themselves. But Jesus was not finished working miracles yet. He tested the disciples first: "You give them something to eat." The disciples may have wished to respond as Moses did to God when the Israelites in the desert demanded food: "Why…do You lay the burden of all these people on me? … Where am I to get food to give all these people?" (Num. 11:11-13). But they merely said, as a simple matter of fact: "We have only five loaves here and two fish."
Jesus alone had the power to work the miracle, but He would not do it without his disciples' co-operation. Their five loaves would not be able to feed the multitude, but Jesus chose to use those very loaves to do it Himself. "Bring them here to Me," He said. So, in Jesus' plan to feed the people, the disciples' contribution was necessary, even if not sufficient. Jesus would make up for whatever was lacking in their offering.
The liturgical and Eucharistic significance of this miracle becomes more apparent in what follows. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis explains this in his commentary. It may seem an insignificant detail that Jesus told the crowds to recline on the grass. But this is another moment of messianic fulfillment according to Psalm 22(23): The Lord is the Shepherd, so the people shall not lack anything. He gives them repose in verdant pastures. He prepares a banquet for them. So the people reposed on the grass while they awaited the Master's banquet. Erasmo notes the etymology of the Greek term used at the end of the account when it says that after eating they were all "satisfied." The word literally means "they were pastured with grass." He remarks, "In a Middle Eastern setting this obviously evokes the tending of sheep, for whom grass represents both food and bed."
The next series of actions are very much like what Jesus did at the Last Supper and hence similar to what we do even today at the Divine Liturgy. Jesus took the loaves and the fish, He looked up to Heaven, He blessed them, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to give to the crowds. To look up to Heaven is to acknowledge that all things come from the Father. Before Jesus went to his Passion, when He was at table with his disciples, St John recounts that He raised his eyes to Heaven and said: "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son… since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him" (Jn. 17:1-2). Jesus gives eternal life to us, but the power to do so was given Him by the Father.
After He looked up to Heaven, Jesus blessed the loaves, signifying that this meal is meant to effect a communion with God, the Creator who gives life to all. The food we eat helps sustain our existence, yet we would have no existence at all if we were not at each moment sustained in existence by the power and loving solicitude of God.
Jesus then broke the bread. This is not a mere practicality to make it easier to eat. The breaking is a prophetic foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice. "This is my Body," He said at the Last Supper, "which is broken for you" (according to some ancient manuscripts, which the Byzantine Liturgy has followed). After breaking the bread Jesus gave it to his disciples to distribute it to the people, and somewhere between this giving and distributing, the supply became super-abundant, and all were satisfied.
This was one event that happened at a particular time and place—a long time ago and a place far away. It is significant not just because we have the account and can remember what Christ did for others way back when. It gives us some of the background for what Christ is doing for us here and now.
Jesus comes to us now as we gather to hear his word and to experience his mercy and the grace of healing and spiritual renewal. He looks upon us with compassion, knowing that we are in a lonely wilderness, that is, we are exiled from Paradise. We don't have the wherewithal to survive in this wilderness, so we look to Him for sustenance and salvation. But He will not save us without our co-operation, just as He would not produce bread out of thin air but required the apostles to bring Him what they had, however insufficient.
He asks the same of us, on two levels. On the level of our personal relationship with Him, in faith and love and prayer, He asks us to give Him our whole self, even though with our weaknesses and defects we may feel that we have nothing of value to offer Him. He will transform whatever we are, however poor, if we offer ourselves without hesitation or reservation.
On the liturgical level, we still have a radical insufficiency in our offering. The disciples had a little bread and a little fish; we have a little bread and a little wine. He says to us, as He said to his disciples: "Bring them here to Me." Our Liturgy is a dramatization of all this. We gather to hear the word of the Lord, and then we bring these simple gifts to Him, to his holy altar. The priests then look up to Heaven—for without God we can do nothing, let alone change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ—we bless the bread, speaking his words over it, invoking his Spirit over it, then we break it and distribute it to the communicants, who go away satisfied with the rich gifts of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Good Shepherd who provides the Messianic Banquet humbles Himself to become the sacrificed Lamb of God, who is "broken and distributed—broken but not divided, ever eaten but never consumed—sanctifying those who partake" (Byzantine Liturgy).
Having received the miraculous Bread from Heaven, which is multiplied and distributed the world over by Christ through his disciples the priests, the faithful joyfully sing: "Let our mouths be filled with your praise, O Lord, so that we may sing of your glory. For You have made us worthy to share your holy, divine, immortal, and life-giving Mysteries. Keep us in your holiness so that all day long we may learn your righteousness. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!"
It is important, then, that we not only witness the miracle and partake of this heavenly Bread, but that we beg the Lord to keep us in his grace and holiness, for we still need to grow in his righteousness, that is, to hear his word and keep it. We are not to be among those who merely cry out, "Lord, Lord" in church, but rather among those who actually do the will of the Heavenly Father, for only such shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus has taught us (Mt. 7:21).
So let us rejoice in all that our Lord has said and done, all that He has given us for our contemplation and spiritual nourishment. Let us always come to Him, knowing that He looks upon us with compassion. He will require of us all that we have to give, but He will receive that and transform it beyond our highest expectations. He will take us, bless us, and yes, even break us, so that we can truly be members of his body—who share in his suffering as well as his glory—and all this will be for our deeper communion with Him and for our unmitigated joy at the everlasting Heavenly Banquet.
