OrthoAnalytika
Today, Fr. Anthony covers Chapter Twenty-Three: ON TIMES OF DARKNESS with the faithful of Christ the Savior in Anderson SC. We changed the format a bit, having the class as we enjoyed our after-Presanctified collation of PB&J's, PB&B's, collard greens, and tobouli. Enjoy the show!
info_outline The Way of Ascetics - Chapter 22OrthoAnalytika
Chapter Twenty-Two: ON THE USE OF MATERIAL THINGS WE are made up of soul and body; the two cannot be separated in our conduct. Let the physical therefore come to your aid: Christ knew our weakness and for our sake used words and gestures, spittle and earth as media. For our sake He let His power flow from the fringe of His garment (Matthew 9:20; 14:36), from the handkerchiefs or aprons that were carried away from the apostle Paul's body (Acts I9:I2), yes, from the shadow of the apostle Peter (Acts 5:I5). Therefore use all that is of earth as a staff of remembrance on your troublesome wandering...
info_outline Homily - ForgivenessOrthoAnalytika
Matthew 6:14-21 Romans 13:11-14:4 In today’s Gospel, the Lord tells us to lay up treasures in heaven, how do we do that? It’s not hard. And it’s, it’s actually a lot easier than fully investing in your 401k. Because the amount of love that is available to your heart, to share with others, that will then compound back into your own heart has no limit – its source is unending. The problem is that we are so often closing our hearts. One of the things that I study as a political scientist is polarization. And there is no doubt – the data are clear – that our society is plagued by...
info_outline Bible Study - Job:8 to the EndOrthoAnalytika
Bible Study – Job Class Six: Job 8:1-11:1; 11:1-42:22 From the Orthodox Study Bible. JOB 8: [Bildad’s nonsense] TO THE EARS OF BILDAD, JOB’S SECOND RESPONDENT, a man even less tolerant than Eliphaz, the foregoing lament seems to be an attack on the justice of God and the entire moral order. Unlike Eliphaz, however, Bildad is able to make no argument on the basis of his own personal experience. He is obliged to argue, rather, solely from the moral tradition, which he does not understand very well. Indeed, Bildad treats the moral structure of the world in a nearly impersonal...
info_outline Homily - Prejudice, Objectivity, and PerseveranceOrthoAnalytika
Homily – Prejudice, Objectivity, and Grit St. Matthew 15.21-28 Gospel: Then Jesus left and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried; “have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; for my daughter is severely possessed by a devil.” But Jesus did not answer her at all. So his disciples came and pleaded; “send her away, for she is crying after us.” Jesus replied; “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and knelt before him saying; “Lord, help me.” And Jesus answered; “it...
info_outline Bible Study – Job 2:16-7:14OrthoAnalytika
Bible Study – Job Class Five: Job 2:16-7:14The trial of ideas begins.
info_outline Homily - Spiritual Investing?OrthoAnalytika
Homily on the Talents Main point: What do we with the riches God has given us? Multiply them! How? By investing all those riches in spiritual activities that provide a strong return on investment and having enough self-discipline not to waste them on activities that cause spiritual harm. There are many kinds of riches that the Bible and Tradition teach about; today we’ll talk about spiritual and monetary riches. How to Get a Good Return on Spiritual Riches • Baptized Christians have all received riches (the grace of Baptism – a life in Christ!): what do we do...
info_outline FSAW - Falling Short of the Glory of GodOrthoAnalytika
In this episode of "Father, Speak a Word," Fr. Gregory Jensen, PhD and Fr. Anthony talk about why we should celebrate our shortcomings (as we repent of our sin). The conversation is based on Fr. Gregory's substack article "." [The audio has been corrected.]
info_outline Bible Study – Job 1:13-2:15OrthoAnalytika
Bible Study – Job Class Four: Job 1:13 – 2:15 From the Orthodox Study Bible. Job Loses His Children and Property 13. Now there was a day when Job’s sons and daughters were drinking wine in the house of their elder brother, 14. and behold, a messenger came to Job and said, “The yokes of oxen were plowing, and the female donkeys were feeding beside them. 15. Then raiders came and took them captive and killed the servants with the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” 16. While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said to Job, “Fire fell...
info_outline Homily - What is a Home?OrthoAnalytika
Homily Notes on Zacchaeus Sunday: What makes a home? Walk in – can you tell (that a place is a home)? The feeling? · Feelings and intuition are unreliable; generally, they are the way the subconscious mind puts together other indicators · But to the sense our feelings are reliable, some places are haunted by memories of being home “The clutter?” There is something to this. · Imperfect indicator (museums have lots of stuff… & I hear there are homes with no...
info_outlineParable of Lazarus and the Rich Man
St. Luke 16:19-31
So much to learn here. Focus on a lesson it gives to us as members of a parish that has been given the fullness of the faith.
For us: We are the Rich Man and this is the place where we feast scrumptiously and wear kingly garments.
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The Eucharist – it is the great feast, a feast without end. Always a banquet and there is always more.
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Our Kingly Robes – we have put on Christ. Our baptismal garments transform us into sons of God, ones who act in the “Name of God”, and rulers of the age to come.
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The place of our feasting is beautiful, separated from the cares and disasters of the world. When we come through the gates of this temple we are entering into a special place and special time. A place of beauty and song and fellowship that contrasts so starkly with the disharmony and ugliness that seems to dominate life outside the gates.
It is an amazing fact. We are beyond rich, beyond blessed. This feast, the transformation, the protection and beauty. Isn't this the way life is meant to be lived?
Yes it is. But putting this beauty into the context of the parable helps us realize how badly we have failed.
The Rich Man is the main player in the parable, the one whose example we are meant to learn from.
But it is not a good example. It is a look in the mirror that is designed to move us to change. To get us to appreciate the purpose of the blessings we receive and to see the great evil if we horde these blessings.
There is more than enough here for us to share, but we have hoarded our blessings so long that we know no other way. We bemoan the loss of our loved ones and the empty pews around us, but fail to notice and help the many Lazarus' at our door.
Nor is it just a matter of finding ways to invite the spiritually malnourished to this banquet, we have to break out of the habits of our personal and parish lives that isolate us from them; the many ways that we ourselves segregate our life in Christ that we experience and love here at St. Mary's from the way we live in our homes, our friendships, and all of our other activities. We do not see Lazarus outside our gates to the extent that we only look for God here in this Church and only look for spiritual nourishment within these walls.
The “food of which we know not” that Christ speaks of is not just Eucharistic or His union with the Father and the Holy Spirit, it is the nourishment that we receive when we share our lives with others, and especially those in need. This is one of the constituent motivations behind the Eucharist: Christ offering Himself, His time, His attention – His very life – so that people who are suffering might be saved. We have the opportunity to make this same sacrifice to the people in our families, our friendships, and our lives every moment of every day.
When we begin to see God in every person in our life and not just in the icons and experiences within these walls, when we begin to see that the it is our love and service that can help nourish them and bring them to the banquet, then we will have begun to learn the lesson of the Parable of the Rich Man.