SAINT GEORGE ORTHODOX CHURCH - A Good Word

Father's day

6/18/2021

“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…”. With these words from the Gospel of Matthew, Christ teaches the disciples how to pray to God. The idea that God can be approached as a father boggles the mind. Is He not transcendent, above all “earthly” notions and concepts? The answer to this question is of course yes; He is above the “earthly” concept of fatherhood, but the question itself is flawed.

Since the advent of Scholasticism in the West, beginning with Augustine and reaching its highest in Thomas Aquinas, there have been attempts to define God by what we humans see in the “natural order”. This method says if we look around and find what is common to all fathers we can deduce what God’s fatherhood is like. This method, used by both the Roman and Protestant churches, I bound to produce error. How can a world fallen into imperfections and sin accurately portray, in any meaningful way, the perfect and righteous God? True we all have fathers and they all do certain things in common, but all of this is colored by the fallen world. This is why Christ says, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” God is the example to be imitated not us.

The correct model, the Orthodox model, is to look into Scripture, the Word of God which reveals Him to us, and see how God acts as a father and then say, “This is what human fathers should do.” Our examples abound in the Bible: the compassionate father of the prodigal son, Abraham in his sacrifice, Jacob and his wisdom. Yes, God in scripture is stern, but He is also fair; He is loving, but He commands respect. God demands that we strive toward Him not out of a misapplied ego, but because, in this case, “Father knows best.” We human fathers make mistakes, we correct too harshly, we dote too readily. Our fatherhood is affected by the world around us which seeks individuality instead of community. Fathers should sacrifice for their offspring and be heeded by their offspring because they have sacrificed. They should love their children and the children should obey the fathers because of that love. The rules and disciplines should be evident and not of whimsy. This is perfect fatherhood, the fatherhood of God: love without measure, expectation without limitation. This is the heavenly revelation not an earthly concept.

The Feast of Ascension

6/7/2021

After His glorious Resurrection, Christ remained with His disciples for forty days. This forty day period has great significance within Scripture. The number forty is a sign of completion. Moses and the Israelites wandered for forty years, until those that had challenged God were no more. Likewise, Christ wandered in the desert for forty days after his baptism while resisting the devil’s temptations, doing what Israel had not been able to. These forty days have been a preparatory time. The Church has read from the Gospel of John in order to open the meaning of the scriptures to new Christians. It has been a time of celebration as the risen Lord has dwelt among us in the risen and transfigured body.

This is why the Antiochian Archdiocese, and the whole of the Patriarchate in fact, has a no fasting period from Pascha to Ascension. This tradition follows the admonishment of Christ, “Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as the bridegroom is with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” (Mark 2:19) During these forty days the Church triumphant is here on earth in the presence of Christ and his followers. We celebrate the great joy of having our Lord with us. Nevertheless, He will ascend and we will return to the worlds as the Church militant, struggling to remember the triumph of Christ over death.

This separation has meaning too. Christ does not wish to be parted from us but it is necessary for two reasons. First, as He said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do no go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7) Christ must ascend that the Holy Spirit may come and continue the work of salvation. Through the Spirit truth is proclaimed unto the whole world and Christ’s words to Thomas, “more blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe” find their fulfillment. The Spirit can only reveal the heart of men after they no longer have the risen Lord standing right in front of them.

Second, Christ also said, “You have heard me say that I am going away and coming back to you…I am going to my Father, for My Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28) In His ascension Christ takes his body, which is the same nature as our body, and presents it to the Father and sits down at the right hand of God with a human body. This act reaffirms humanity’s place in creation. We were created in God’s image and likeness. Through Christ’s actions human nature is once again true to its original purpose. We are glorified in our bodies because Christ has been glorified in His, if we are imitators of Him and His sacrifice. Thus St. Athanasius said, “God became man that man might become like God.” Human nature is deified in the person of Jesus Christ. This great mystery can only happen if Christ ascends and presents Himself, and by extension us, to God the Father in love.

Homily and Next Steps for Returning to Parish Life

5/25/2021

Fr. Joel Gillam
May 23, 2021

Beloved in Christ

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Today we encounter our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ coming to the Pool by the Sheep’s Gate. It was the tradition that at certain times and/or seasons that an angel would stir the waters and that the first person to enter them at this time would receive healing. This pool is where the lambs who were part of the Passover sacrifice were washed, and where the blood of those lambs would gather after the offering. The pool is the promise, the image of baptism, which Christ, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, will fulfill.

Within this backdrop John brings us to Christ who finds a man that has suffered for a great deal of time. He has been bound in this infirmity and he has been at the whim of others who sought what he sought. Seeing that the man has suffered for a long time, 38 years in fact, our Lord has compassion on him and offers that he can be healed. The man, misunderstanding what Christ says, remains fixed on the earthly healing he has yearned for. Reaching beyond this misunderstanding Jesus commands that the man should take up his bed and go home. He who commanded the waters to be stirred and who Himself received baptism at the hands of a servant, commands the man rise and go, His voice becoming the waters that soothe the man’s burden.

Later when the man is questioned by those who ‘have knowledge’ these others also focus only on what is seen and not on what is unseen. When we see the man again he is in the temple giving thanks to God for what he has been given. Our Lord comes to him and rejoices again with him that he has been made well, but Christ also gives him a warning that he not sin again, that he not become again like he was and even worse, that he not become like those who chastised him.

We as a community, as a society, and throughout the whole world have gone through much suffering recently with regard to many things, the pandemic chief among them in many ways. God has provided an earthly means of healing in the vaccinations just as He did in the stirring of the waters. Each of these is only accomplished through His providence, by His grace. We are thankful for His mercy. Just like those who gathered at the pool though, this healing does not meet everyone equally. Some have not yet been able to receive the treatments whether for health concerns, age limitations, or for other causes. Nevertheless, the healing of the soul and body through the encounter with Christ in His Church is and must always be available to all who seek Him. With this in mind we must prepare our parish family so that like the paralytic we may rise together, and so that all can come home. In order to do this we must, as a parish and as a family, continue to seek out the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Next steps:
Seeing how our Lord loved the paralytic and worked not just for his physical healing, but for his spiritual healing as well, we will take the following steps as we move forward, thanking God for the healing he has given from the pandemic, while still working together “with fear and trembling” for our spiritual healing.

Having spoken with Parish Council members, I know that there is no ‘perfect’ solution in our next steps; no path forward that will meet everyone’s needs or thoughts. Those who would like to have detailed debates on public policy may feel free to do so over coffee or even a beer at one of the many local establishments here in Upper Darby. As Pastor and Father of this community, I have considered and prayed on the thoughts of the council members, and I am, in obedience to Metropolitan JOSEPH and Bishop THOMAS, blessing the following work in the coming months:

Those adults who are fully vaccinated, including the recommended waiting period after receiving the last dose, may choose to stop wearing masks.

Those who are unvaccinated are asked to continue to wear masks, since social distancing will not always be possible in all areas of the Church as our numbers return to normal. Those who continue to wear masks may do so for whatever reasons they have, and will be respected in their choice.

Space will be reserved in the Sanctuary for those who would like to mask and continue to practice social distancing for whatever reason, and again this will be respected.

Coffee Hour will resume in a limited fashion during the summer. It will be held bi-weekly, meaning every other week, and the dates will be posted on the Parish calendar, and sent to the parishioners. Furthermore, weather permitting, space will be made available outside for people to gather. Re-starting coffee hour in this fashion serves the following realities:

A number of our families will be away over the summer, and limiting the number of coffee hours will allow for the sharing of fellowship without placing heavier burdens on the families that are not traveling during the summer months.
It will give the Ministry Teams, which oversees this work, time to write appropriate guidelines for donating and cleaning up coffee hour so as to, again, share the burdens among all of us rather than overworking some of us.

During the summer months the different ministries of our parish will begin to meet in person and/or through online means in order to develop the various programs our parish needs to greet the New Ecclesiastical Year, September 1, with joy and with a eye towards the resumption of all our normal parish activities including, but not limited to: Choir, Weekly Coffee Hour/Agape meals, in person Sunday school, in person organizational meetings, the ‘greeter/usher’ ministry, liturgical readers, and so on. Caitlin Gordon, our Administrator and Pastoral Assistant will coordinate with the heads of the various groups to schedule these meetings.

For those who are considering the vaccine and have asked what the Church’s “thoughts” are on the matter. Our beloved Patriarch John X has reaffirmed that the Church proclaims, “…the sanctity of life and the necessity of respecting it alongside her openness to scientific advancement” and that “…the Church considers that the matter of vaccination is not the specialty of the field of theological and spiritual studies, but rather specific to the field of medical sciences and its authorities. The decision regarding taking the vaccine is a personal decision. Every faithful has the right to make this decision in consultation with his or her doctor.” I and my family are vaccinated, Dn. Joseph and his family are, our Hierarchs are. Echoing our Patriarch I encourage you to speak to your doctor, or to one of the doctors we have here in our community as each of you wrestles with this personal decision.

These initial steps are to be taken beginning June 6th, 2021. This will allow for the information contained in this homily to be sent to parishioners, and for us to set aside the space in the Sanctuary to respect those who choose to use it.

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, these steps and the others that will likely come as we move forward must be accompanied by our sincere and continued repentance before God. We all must bear each other’s burdens, as St. Paul says to the Galatians, and in so doing fulfill the law of Christ, who Himself took on our infirmity and bore our wounds as the prophet Isaiah foretold.

As noted earlier there are and will be different sides and points of view on the matters I have addressed. Throughout all of them though we must continue to incarnate Christ in our lives. As Patriarch JOHN has noted, we as a people have practiced a spiritual “social distancing” from God and our fellow humans and this has led to estrangement from God, and conflict with each other, and a misuse of the creation. Christ healed the paralytic so that God might be glorified. He took up the Cross so that God’s love for us could be made manifest and that He might heal His brethren, and in His Death and Resurrection all creation is renewed. This is the path forward for us as a family, as a church.

Affirming this the Patriarch goes on to say, “This situation is dealt with by changing our behavior through sincere repentance, returning to God in prayer, and a life of communion and service. We must renounce whatever harms ourselves, our brother, and our environment. We are called to live the mystery of Divine Thanksgiving, being grateful for God’s gifts and mercies, and igniting our hope through reading the Holy Scriptures, the lives of the saints, and their teachings” so that “the joy springing from our belief that Christ is with us until the end of time makes us companions on the way with our Fathers who followed the path of struggle in every time and place. This joy strengthens us in the face of every evil and iniquity, and makes us like them, able to overcome, with God’s grace and through concerted efforts, the challenges that face our journey, so that God may be glorified in our words and deeds.”

Beloved in Christ, I pray that we all meet the coming challenges with this joy, love, and faith in Christ. I pray that we hear the words of St. Paul to the Galatians so that we aren’t deceived, that we avoid the temptations of the Adversary and the hardening of hearts.

The story of the paralytic ends with Christ finding the man in the temple. Our Lord commends a life of repentance “see that you sin no more”, and in response to this the man goes and proclaims Christ to those who are still in need.

May Christ heal our spiritual infirmities, speaking good and gentle things into our hearts. May He bless our labors in this vineyard. May He strengthen us to endure all tribulations. May He preserve us in humility in triumphs. And may we be granted to praise, honor, and worship the One Godhead in Three Persons: The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; always now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The Presentation of the Lord

1/22/2021

On February 2nd, most of the U.S. waits to hear the verdict of Phil the groundhog concerning the end of winter. The Orthodox Church, however, is already preparing for “spring”. It is on this day that the Church celebrates the Presentation of the Lord. This is the day that Joseph and Mary bring the infant Jesus to the Temple and they bring with them a sacrifice of turtledoves. Before they can accomplish this though, St. Symeon meets them at the entrance. There Symeon says, “Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.” Tradition holds that Symeon was one of the Jewish scribes/priests that helped to compose the Septuagint, or Greek, Old Testament. When he translated a verse from Isaiah as “Behold a virgin shall bear a child…” instead of “a young maiden”, he was amazed and he doubted. Little did he know that all of the 70 scribes had done the exact same thing. Because he doubted, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him and told Symeon that he would live to see this miracle. This all occurred 100-150 years before Christ’s birth! Finally, Symeon saw the Messiah coming in the form of this young babe, born of a virgin, and he weeps in joy. For here in Jesus he sees the great love of God that will free us from the bondage to death, the never-ending “winter”. He sees in the child the Son of Righteousness that thaws the hearts of men and that sheds the heavenly light to a people who sit in darkness and shadow. So if you catch yourself watching to see if Phil sees his shadow, rejoice in your heart knowing that the Light of Christ has so illumined the world that we no longer fear the dark for it is only illusion and smoke.

Timing is Everything

9/15/2020

In comedy, whether slapstick, stand-up, or just a good party joke, there is an adage that says “Timing is everything.” The delivery of the message makes the moment. What made the great duos of Martin and Lewis, Abbot and Costello, or Crosby and Hope so funny was that they rehearsed lines and practices until they had it down pat. That effort made them appear as geniuses. Without that forethought or foreknowledge of the material they would have made mistakes and errors and the laughter would not have been from amusement but from scorn as the spectators saw not geniuses but fools.

Now one may ask, what does comedy have to do with the church? Truthfully, not much. The mission of the Church and our salvation is not a thing to be mocked at or laugh about. Yet at the same time we can learn something from the attitudes present in and towards such “fools”. The Scriptures and the witness of the saints, especially within the Slavic tradition, describe different types of foolishness. In Scripture we read of the rich man who seek only his own comfort, whom God calls a “fool” (Luke 12:20). We also read of the “foolish virgins” (Matthew 25:1-13) and of the “foolish disciples” on the road to Emmaus, who are “slow to believe” (Luke 24:25) and understand the things that have happened to Jesus. These moments of fools and foolishness concern the denial of God and His work of salvation. The rich man serves only himself and not others by hoarding his goods; the “foolish” virgins do not prepare for God’s plan and lose the light and their way; and the disciples have not kept faith with the Christ and the Father but instead are scattered and afraid, ignorant of Scripture’s message and promise.

Yet, in Scripture we also see those that are foolish in a different way. In his first letter to the Corinthians St. Paul calls those who labor for God as “fools for Christ’s sake” (1 Cor. 4:10). We also read of those who mocked the Apostles at Pentecost saying, “They are full of new wine” (Acts 2:13), thus calling them drunks and fools. In both of these cases, in contrast to the other fools mentioned above, the Apostles speak knowing God’s plan and message for mankind. That message is inherent in the sacrifice of Jesus. It is a message that can only be understood by those who reject the foolish “wisdom of the world” (1 Cor. 1:20) and turn instead to the cross that appears to be “foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:18) itself. That is why Paul also says that the cross is “to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness…because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:23-25).

This rejection of the world can be seen most clearly in the monastic life and especially in the saints, mainly from the Slavic tradition, who are called the “fools for Christ”. The men and women that fall into the latter expression of the ascetic life presented themselves before their fellow men in order to be mocked. They played the part of fools to show the hypocrisy of the mockers. Through the sacrifice of their “dignity” they even corrected the actions and misdeeds of Tsars.

So now we come back to “timing is everything”. In the Church’s case, though, it’s not the timing of the message, but the timing of our foolishness. Do we time our lives to the beat of the world or to the beat of God? If we read the material, Scripture; and we practice, have a prayer life, and live the life of the Church; and we make the time and effort to be “for Christ’s sake” then we are joyful fools, like St. Laurence who said, while cooked over a fire, “Turn me over. I am done on this side.” If we do not do these things then the world will laugh in scorn as we stumble through life and God will not laugh at all and we will just be fools.

Let us go forth in peace

7/23/2020

At the end of the Divine Liturgy the priest declares, “Let us go forth in peace.” The people’s response is: “In the name of the Lord.” This call and response are at the heart of the Christian witness. The understanding that each Christian is meant to go out into the world in the “name of the Lord”, meaning both to take His name, as “little Christs” or Christians, and to act in His name among the nations, is the central reality of Christ’s message in Matthew, “…go and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt. 28:19). However, the simple reading that sees this dialogue between the priest and the people as only a means of ending that particular Liturgy misses the point of each Christian’s need to be with others in Christ.

To truly understand what it means to “go forth in the name of the Lord” we must look beyond the simple meaning that modern English imparts to the phrase. The way to do this is to look into Scripture and see what God has done when those who follow Him go forth from one setting to another. When we look at the reality of the journeys undertaken by all those whom God has called we see that there is always an element of return in the going.

When one goes out in the authority of the Lord, one is also expected to come back as well. In fact, if there is no return then the journey is incomplete. If we look at Moses, who went forth into the wilderness, he returns to Egypt to bring God’s people out of Egypt and back to the “Promised Land”. In this case there are two moments of going forth: Moses’ and that of the Israelites who, having gone into Egypt, now return to the land of Jacob, their ancestor. There is even a third element of the going out and return in that the Jews bring back the bones of Joseph who was sold into slavery and went out of the land of Jacob, his father, and now returns with the people of God. Christ Himself also makes this journey into Egypt and back to the land of Jacob while an infant. Christ also journeys out from Jerusalem and returns to it for His crucifixion. Likewise, when he sends His disciples out to heal those in the countryside they return to Him. And the greatest return of all is that Christ returns us to the proper place at God’s side when He ascends, restoring our nature to the full image and likeness of God.

The early Christians also understood this need to go out and come back. The Apostles went from Jerusalem to proclaim the Gospel and returned to the Holy City for counsel and to hold councils. Paul when confronted by Christ goes into the wilderness and returns to Damascus to begin his own apostleship. As Christianity spread throughout the Empire, Christians of all ranks regularly made “returns” of their own, no longer simply to one city, but to all the places that God had worked through the Apostles and their successors. These journeys, or pilgrimages, connected the separated Christian communities in a way not possible in a purely physical way. As each Christian prepared to go forth he/she also prepared to return with a renewed spirit and a restored understanding of being in Christ. Each time one went on a pilgrimage it meant leaving behind anything that separated the pilgrim from God and instead trusting God to strengthen and illumine the one making the journey and through them others when they returned home. In this way the missionary mind of the Church is continually renewed in each of us.

Those who read this who have never “made” a retreat or gone on a pilgrimage will find that their journey into the life of Christ is still incomplete. They stand isolated and not yet whole within the life of the Christian community. They will find that time passes too quickly. Yet there is hope if we remember: the start of the journey of a lifetime, the return to Christ, begins with our taking a first step.

The Love of Neighbor

7/5/2020

Dn. Joseph reflects on the centurion's encounter with Christ, and that the authority that the centurion seeks is one that comes from love. It is his love for his servant, his brother and neighbor that shows the faith that Christ says is more than any He has encountered even in Israel.

On the Law and Doing It

6/21/2020

This week's Epistle reading is from Romans 2:10-16. Here St. Paul comments on the difference between hearing the Law and doing it, and how God shows "no partiality", that the judgment is "first to the Jew then to the Gentile". In his reflection on this Fr. Joel explains that in the doing the person chooses to live and act in a certain way, acknowledging that God's way in Christ through the Holy Spirit brings freedom, while hearing only and doing something different leads to a different life, one of slavery and bondage. This is the point of the Law, sin means communion with other gods, the "powers and principalities of darkness" St. Paul speaks of elsewhere, and that kind of communion is unto death.

The Freedom of Juneteenth

6/19/2020

On June 19th the holiday of Juneteenth is celebrated. In this reflection, offered after the serving of the Canon of Racial Reconciliation, Dn. Joseph relates the history of Juneteenth and the current state of unrest brought about through the recent unjust death of George Floyd and others. Sharing his own experiences both as an African American and as a former Corrections Officer Dn. Joseph draws us to reflect not simply on the earthly freedom that is celebrated on Juneteenth, but to rejoice in the true Freedom that is in Christ Jesus, Who frees all humanity from the slavery and tyranny of sin and death.

To know is Life

6/15/2020

The words 'acknowledge' and 'deny' as used in the Scripture read for the Feast of All Saints mean much more than to simply affirm or dismiss what Christ is saying. The words as Christ uses them are as St. Peter says "...the words of eternal life (John 6:68)." To know is to engage and integrate Christ's very life as our own; to deny is to turn away from that life being offered and to ultimately seek disintegration. It is this choice that Fr. Joel reflects on for the Feast of All Saints, all who have yearned for Christ and followed Him.

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A Good Word

In the Tradition of the Orthodox Church the request to receive a "good word" is a request to both receive a blessing and to receive wisdom from a spiritual elder in our desire to follow after Christ. May these homilies and writings be to the Glory of God!

Authors
Fr. Joel Gillam is the Pastor of St. George Orthodox Church. He is Spiritual Advisor to the Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese, and is a graduate of St. Vladimir Seminary.

Deacon Joseph Clark is the assistant at St. George Orthodox Church. He has a background in Criminal Justice, and currently teaches the Catechumen classes at St. George.

Homilies

Homilies given at St. George

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