Transfiguration and Transformation

Today, Our Lord's physical nature has been transfigured by the Holy Spirit within the witness of three of the apostles. The Holy Spirit, proceeding forth from the Father and whose voice testified of the Son, has given irrefuteable witness to the divinity of the Son.

But this has happened before in the witness of the Holy Scriptures, hasn't it? We must remember the Baptism of our Lord, which the Church calls and celebrates as Theophany is but another such occasion as the one we see before us here on the Transfiguration of our Lord.

The Father sends down the Holy Spirit upon Jesus as a dove. This is a proof positive that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. So many outside of the Church forget this fact and fall into grievous error by mistakenly stating that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. These two great Feasts of the Church contain within them the essential basis of what we in the Church term "Christology"... meaning, the study of Christ's person and nature.

In the action of the Holy Spirit descending from God the Father we are given an important truth about Christ and it is important in that we should be fully aware of who Christ is to realize all that He has done and continues to do for us.

Theophany and the Transfiguration teach us that the human and divine natures of Christ are united in One Person. Christ is not a disembodied spirit and neither is He simply a man claiming to be God, for such a man as this would be a madman with delusions of grandeur.  We are shown in the alighting of the Holy Spirit upon Christ that there is no unity without the presence of the Holy Spirit. For it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that reveals the glory that belongs to Christ. In the presence and witness of Moses and Elijah, we see that our Saviour is Lord over Life and Death, for Moses, who died, worships Him, and Elijah, who did not die, also worships Him. This is to be the answer to those Jews who would say that they have Moses as their father and that by some claim of birthright that they are owed a part and parcel in the Kingdom of God. This will prove to be a sure testimony against such claims.

But what the Transfiguration and Theophany really teach us is the value of and the journey towards repentance. You see, in our own journey as Orthodox Christians, we travel towards a sort of transformation ourselves. In fear and trembling we confess and repent of our many and manifold sins, hoping to be transfigured into that which Christ has called us to become. This process is called Theosis and it is the Orthodox Christian ideal of salvation. We are all at different points along the road of this journey. That's Ok. We are not in a competition with our fellow brother or sister. We are all running towards God. And let us not forget that we have been transfigured already. When you might ask? Well, at our own baptism, of course! Each of us went down into the waters as Christ descended into the grave. In this way, we died to ourselves. This process is even spoken in the Baptism Rite itself, when it says that we have put away the Old Man and his acts. We arise, alive, following Christ in His own resurrection from the dead... It is our own old nature that is left in the tomb for we have been transformed into a new creation in Christ. Behold, it is as Christ said from the cross, "Behold... I make all things new."

Being made new creations in Christ in our baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit from God the Father and are sealed in the Chrism of the Church as being now, the Faithful. No longer do we sit in the outer places of the Church during the Liturgy. No longer do we depart during the Litany of the Catechumens. We are fully present and partake of the full gifts and sacraments of the Church; which She has been given by Christ to sustain the Faithful until His coming again in glory.

And so, in the lesson of the Transfiguration, we are given an example to follow. In our own lives, we are gradually being transformed by the Holy Spirit and our own cooperation with the Holy Spirit. You see, the Christian life is likened to a fish in a swiftly moving stream. A fish that is alive swims against the current and succeeds by it's effort and life, which it possesses. One that is dead is swiftly carried away by the stream into oblivion. It is true also for the Christian. For he has been given life anew and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Now, it is up to him to persevere and to put forth the effort to journey against the currents of this present fallen age to attain to that far and distant shore where he is ever being drawn by the Holy Spirit within him. To that safe harbor of our Lord's love for us.

But remember, we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Our own spiritual transformation is not a passive, automatic process within us. It does not simply occur just because we have the Holy Spirit within us.  For we can both go against the current and allow ourselves to be swept away with it in our complacency. We can spiritually progress, and we can also spiritually regress. We can be transfigured by the love of God or we can be disfigured by the love of sin. And like progress, regress is not sudden and dramatic, regression can be gradual, almost imperceptible until it becomes a swift moving current that drags us to the oblivion at the bottom of the falls.

Let us take heed and be watchful... and ever swimming strongly.

The Mountain & the Mustard Seed

The Mountain and the Mustard Seed



What are the three things most necessary to the Christian to do battle with evil? In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 17: 14-23, we are told that the three essentials are Faith, Prayer and Fasting. All three are the necessary pillars of our strength and our ability to overcome evil. But moreover, how much faith is necessary? The answer may surprise you. Let us contemplate the mountain and the mustard seed.



Jesus is approached by a man who kneels down in front of him and begs mercy for his son. We are told that the son suffers from a sickness; in this case epilepsy, and the father humbly begs for the healing of his son. Then, the father relates to Christ how His disciples were unable to cure his son.

The opening of this story tells us some very important things. In Scripture, sickness is often connected to activity of demonic origins. We are to gather that the son suffered his illness because of the agency of demons that were vexing him, causing him to thrash about and to fall into the fire often. The father kneels before Christ showing humility... but not necessarily Faith.  We can gather from the father's words that the disciples must have also lacked faith. They most certainly lacked faith in as much as what would have been needed to exorcise the demon from the afflicted son.

Christ rebukes the father because it is originally the father's lack of faith that has brought his son to such a perilous situation. In doing so, Christ publicly stands up for his disciples (although, He later rebukes them in private for their own lack of faith in dealing with the demon posessed man.) This serves as a lesson by example of how we should reprove and correct each other. Let us take it to the person in private first.

St. John Chrysostom tells us that this rebuke is directed at the nine apostles who could not cast out the demon. Whereas, the pillars of the Faith, Peter, James and John were not included because they had been on the mountain with Christ.



The disciples, being rebuked in private asked the Lord, why could this demon not be cast out by them? Christ tells them that the casting out of demons requires as a pre-requisite Faith, Prayer, and Fasting.  These are the pillars of our Christian practice. These are the most necessary of the person who follows Christ. We are literally to have the Faith in Christ to pick up our cross and follow Him. We forsake all other vain pursuits.  Prayer is the conversation that we have with the Father to build the bridge that we tread upon and to come closer to Him each day. I often say that God is infinitely far away but yet, is as intimately close to us as our next breath. When we pray, we bridge the gulf that exists between heaven and earth and we take part in a two way conversation. It is not a soliloquy or a one-sided conversation we are having. God answers in the most amazing ways. It is an ongoing dialogue, much like that between two good friends.

Fasting is the whetstone that hones the edge of our Faith. It is that which trains us to deny the flesh for the sake of the spirit. As the body becomes weak, the spirit becomes strong and clarity of vision is given to accomplish the work of the Lord.



These three things; Faith, prayer and fasting are absolutely necessary to engage in spiritual warfare. There is no healing without all three. In the Didache, the Fathers teach that both the person who is afflicted and the person who is performing the healing must have all three for the healing to be efficacious.

But how great a Faith must we have?



We are given the example of the mustard seed and the mountain. The mustard seed being the tiniest of seeds is meant to tell us that Faith... pure faith need only be possessed in a minute quantity in order to achieve monumental things. It sounds pretty simple really until one realizes that pure Faith is extremely difficult to come by. The exclamation, "Lord... I believe... Help my disbelief!!!" comes to mind. Great and pure faith occurs in the smallest of acts. But the small act is usually extraordinary in nature. The act of praying when it seems that such is the least that one can do, is actually a great sign of faith. It is the ability to put aside one's doubts and to embrace the seemingly impossible. To reach outside of our normal sphere to grasp onto the hand of Christ who has been waiting for such a moment all along, perhaps wondering what took you so long.

But such a rarified faith requires and demands a sacrifice of what we think we know and what we think that we have control over. To turn off worldly knowledge and approach the unknowable as a simple child would... in simple, pure faith.

A Calm in the Midst of the Storm

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We are in the midst of Gospel readings having to do with Christ's many miracles that He performed within the midst all.  This part of the season is one of my favorites. It is refreshing to hear of these many miracles in this day and age. Especially with all that seems to be going wrong around us.
We modern Christians find it too easy to look at the world as it it exists today and find very little to be joyful about. We see the problems and tragedies of our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land and the greater Middle East and say to ourselves, where is God in all of this? We find ourselves thinking "What have I got to be excited about when there is so much terror and so much confusion in the world and heaven seems so far away?"

This example given to us in the Gospel of Matthew is yet the second time that Jesus leaves the disciples alone to go and pray. He bids the disciples to go into a ship and go on before Him while is remains alone to pray. But the disciples find that the crossing is frought with high seas and great winds which toss them about, putting them into great peril of imminent death. The disciples cry out to Christ in desperation thinking that their end was about to come swiftly! Surely we can relate to their fears in our modern times!
But let him who has ears hear the subtle truth behind this situation for it is a great truth and a parable to show us the path home.

Now open the eyes of your heart, listen with the ears of your heart, and try to understand what the Lord is teaching us. The Fathers give us the key. You see, the disciples represent the faithful: that is, all of us gathered here. The crowds that had been gathered upon the hillside previously, you know, the 5,000 who were fed of the five loaves and the two fishes; they are the God-fearing people who are not members of the Church yet. The boat that the disciples were told to embark upon is the Church. The sea with it's deep and often perilous waters represents the world. The wind that rises and is contrary is Satan who is trying to turn us away from our steady path home, which is the kingdom of God, i.e. the other side of the lake. The rough waves of the sea are the afflictions and tribulations, the trials and temptations which assail us during all our life. And of course... The crossing of the lake in the boat is the Christian life.

The true lesson here is the Love of God. For even in the midst of the storm, Christ comes to the disciples where they are. In fact, the laws of the physical world are suspended in a supernatural way so that Christ could come directly to their aid and assistance. The disciples seeing this are struck with fear and awe, thinking that this is a spirit coming toward them... A ghost is you will.

But Jesus calls out to them knowing their fears saying, "Be of good cheer, It is I... Be not afraid." This is my favorite quote of Christ for it is a salve to those who hear and believe and nonsense to those who do not. It is the word of our Lord calling out to our fears and our insecurities. It is so simple a phrase but knowing whose lips it proceeds from is absolutely awesome! It brings to mind the powerful phrase from First Peter 1:24-25

"All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of our Lord endures forever."

Powerful truth!!! St. Peter had the personal, first-hand knowledge of this truth. It was he who called out to the Lord and simply exited the boat to go out to meet the Lord where He was! And he was walking upon the water as Christ was because it was Christ who sustained him and lifted him up. But, Peter, bless his heart, he began to take his eyes off of Christ and started to pay attention to the storm and the squall rushing around him. And he began to sink. His faith left him when he took his eyes off of He who first came to him. How many of us can claim the same problem as Peter?

But Peter began to call out, "Lord... Save Me!" And Christ did. In more ways than one, Christ saved Peter. Christ not only lifted Peter up and returned him to the boat in safety, but Peter confessed Christ for who He is... He is the Son of God!

At this moment, the seas calmed and the winds died. Just as Satan's power to afflict the faithful dies at the confession of the truth of Christ's sovereignty over all of creation... so did the winds lose their power to toss the ship to the depths of the sea. Here is Christ in the truth of His nature. He holds dominion over all things. He is Lord and master of creation. Surely He is still as such to us even in this modern day.

We who turn to the calmer of the storm as the disciples did that night know that within the arms of our savior we find no tragedy... We find comfort and we are to understand that when we ask where is God in the midst of the troubles and catastrophes being played out in the world today? We find that God is still there where He has always been. God is upon the Throne and is triumphant in all of His glory. He is sovereign and has control and dominion over all. Let us take comfort in the this even in the midst of the storm... and be not afraid...

The Great Debate

There was once a day that the members of the body decided to rebel. The feet were jealous of the hands because of all of the things the hands were able to do. The hands were jealous of the mouth because of the wonderful victuals the hands lifted to the mouth but that the hands could never taste. The ears were envious of the eyes because they had heard how wonderful colors were, but alas, they were not able to see them. In all of this commotion and arguing it was finally the head, more importantly the mind itself that shouted, "Enough!!"

When all had fallen silent, the mind began to speak with clarity.

To the feet it said, "You would make very poor hands for your inability to be dextrous and your lack of a thumb. And yet, without you, the body would not stand nor be able to walk."

To the hands it said, "You cannot taste but if you failed to be the hands, the body would have no nourishment and it would die."

To the ears it said, "You cannot perceive the brilliance of vivid colors but it is because of you that the body may hear the wisdom of the Gospels and the Fathers. Without such enlightenment, how whould the body be saved?"

You see... The body is the Church of Christ. Christ is the Head of the Church. We are each members with a role. All are equally important for the Body (*the Church) to function.

Let us be about God's work in what has been given us to do.

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Five Loaves, Two Fishes & The Abundance of God's Grace

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Today we hear of the wonderful miracle that Christ performed in the midst of the multitude that had gathered to hear him and to be healed by Him. The miracle of the feeding of 5,000 with the five loaves and two fishes. It is a wonderful miracle that shows us the depths of Christ's compassion for us and what he expects of His followers.

Many of you will remember that in our Russian Tradition that the priest will consecrate and use five prosphora in the preparation of the gifts, which we call the proskomedia. This practice is to remind us of this very miracle and of the charge that is given us by Christ to be faithful and to make use of that which He has given us to feed His sheep.

In the Gospel we are told that the multitudes of people saw Christ and they came by the thousands! They showed great faith even as he was departing. Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid and Bulgaria remarked in his commentary on this gospel that the fact that these people had dropped what they were doing and without making any preparations, rushed after Christ is yet another sign of how great a faith these people had. I am reminded of the passage where we are reminded to be ever watchful for Christ's return and that we should be about his work when the time comes. For who would want to be found sleeping when the Savior comes again? These people in this multitude certainly did not wish to miss this opportunity to hear and to be around this wonderworker! For from his lips slipped forth the words of God and from His hands came forth healing and forgiveness.

Here we see Christ's compassion for us. For he looked out across the multitude and did not retreat into the waiting boats that were anchored nearby, but he kindled His heart to meet these faithful who had come just as they were to be healed.

Dear ones... is there any other way to come to meet Christ? Is there anything that we are doing that would stand in the way of our chance encounter with the Lord? Have we any dead to bury before taking up the yoke of discipleship of our Christ? Will not the dead bury the dead? For here is life eternal in our very presence! Here is the word made flesh that we might touch him and know that He is real and has become one of us that we may become reunited with the Father.

The miracle of the feeding of the multitude with just five loaves and two fishes is not one of ostentatiousness or vain glory. It is of compassion and love. For if the faithful followed him into the dry desert places, then how could he who loves mankind do anything other than to care for their need?

We are to remember God's customary love and care for mankind. To Noah in the Ark, he sent a dove... to those who followed Moses into the wilderness, he sent food from heaven. To a dry and thirsty land he sent the rains. And as we will see in the passion of our Lord, He sent his only son to be the lamb that is sacrificed once and for all time for our sins. 

Here the five loaves become the food for the multitudes. And there is plenty to go around for the masses, so much in fact that no one goes away hungry and there is plenty in reserve left over. This is an archetype of the inexhaustible grace of God towards us and his ability to forgive us far beyond our propensity to sin against Him. In God's love we find a vastness and a depth that surpasses understanding. We perceive the profundity of the Father's care for us by His willingness to perform the seemingly impossible to meet our own overwhelming needs. You see, a miracle is nothing more and nothing less than God casting aside all of the known laws that seem to govern the universe to accomplish that which is most necessary for those that need it it the most.

With such a feat as this, we are to be reminded that to us that are given much, much is expected. We are to live an uncommon Faith. We are called to do that which is seemingly impossible, even better yet... we are called to be as Christ by not sending those who are in most need away. Christ did not abandon the multitude that had followed him into the desert. He cared for them as a good shepherd. The disciples did not see beyond their own noses here. They wanted to send the throngs away so they could feed themselves. Christ had other ideas. He said, "You feed them". Not only did He say this but He provided the way forward. You see, God never tells us to do something if He is going to simply say it and not provide the means. To Moses He gave many signs and miracles along the way. Without these miracles, the Israelites would have remained in Pharoah's Egypt.

Likewise, when the people come to you with a genuine need, do not simply send them away with a polite, I'll pray for you! Give them of what you have and pray that God will give you more that you may give even more abundantly! Do not take heed of how little you have, but be faithful that God will provide even more that you may have an abundance to give. This is the message of the five loaves! Give until your brother is full and lo, you will see an abundance left over. SUCH IS THE LOVE OF GOD!