The Implements of a Foolish Shepherd (2)

Transcription

1 The Monthly Message to the Fathers, the Priests August, 2015 The Implements of a Foolish Shepherd (2) The Clergical Habit Someone wrote the following on an internet site: If I called the police because of a burglary in my house, I would not be reassured if the police showed up driving a sports car with his kids in the back, and wearing jeans and loafers. If I am in distress because of a crime, I want the police to arrive in a police car and I want them to be wearing freshly pressed uniforms. If I have just been through a burglary, I don t need a buddy; I don t need a narcissist expressing himself in his clothing. I need a policeman. I need a policeman who will carry out the law, not his self-expression. I couldn t care less about who he is personally; I called him as a representative of a greater force. Similarly, if I am on my deathbed, facing the greatest spiritual crisis in my life, I don t want a buddy to come express himself. I want a properly uniformed and equipped minister of God who subordinates himself to his ministry, and who confidently and authoritatively represents God A uniform specified to a certain category serves the function of representing the institution the wearer of the uniform follows. As long as this person is wearing this uniform people deal with him not in his person but in his official post as a representative of his institution. Eventually, no one discerns the personal features of the soldiers in the army because the most obvious part in them is the army s uniform. Also, every uniform carries a symbol of a certain value that people expect from its wearer. For example, the judge s robe = justice, the policeman uniform = law, the soldier s uniform = protection and safety. What about the clergical habit? The clergical habit throws light on the priest in any context he is present making it hard for him to hide himself. This habit carries a clear message as if a banner is put on the front and the back of the priest written on which: 1

2 God s Steward. Therefore, people need a priest who represents God not himself as long as he wears the uniform of God s Steward. Thus a great responsibility is put on the priest by wearing this habit as he has to commit to its particular behaviors and ethics not to his own ones. People expect to see in the priest a smiling face that conveys Christ peace, a respectful body language that conveys the respect and awe of God s presence and a tone of voice that conveys the meekness of the Holy Spirit s voice. Jesus robe was a source of energy to cure the bleeding woman, and St. Paul s handkerchiefs and aprons were causing diseases to leave and evil spirits to come out. Also, there was once an evil spirit coming out of a person and he was shouting and screaming saying that fire was coming out of the monk s robe and burning him. This is actually the difference between a priest s habit and a soldier or policeman uniform. The Holy Spirit who works in the Priesthood Sacrament extends His work even to the priesthood habit. Many times a sinner enters into an attack of weeping and repentance just to the mere sight of an unknown priest, and other times someone else becomes very cheerful when he encounters an unknown priest in his way as if he encountered Christ himself. As for the foolish shepherd, he is the one who does not take heed of all these facts. He, thinking that the shepherd s uniform puts him in a rank higher than the flock, starts to talk and deal with them from a high tower. He acquires to himself from this habit honor and glory forgetting that the true glory is due to God who put on him this habit as a steward and not as an owner. He abuses this habit to be served by the flock instead of serving them. There are others who do not like this habit, and would like to get rid of it and you may see them wearing other cloths which remove from them their clergical identity. O shepherd, may you contemplate this wonderful passage of the Scriptures and pay specific attention to the last verse in it: 2

3 Then He showed me Joshua the high priest... Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And to him He said, See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes. And I said, Let them put a clean turban on his head. So, they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by. Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house, and likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk among these who stand here (Zechariah 3: 1-7) The Priest: A Soul Healer Christianity is basically a healing commission to the souls that have come to Jesus Christ, the true physician of our bodies, souls and spirits. (from the Divine Liturgy, the Litany of the Sick). Cause of the Human Nature Ailment How did the human nature become sick? The Orthodox Church regards the degradation of the human nature as a result of the fall of Adam through disobedience. By falling away from God, the human nature got inflicted basically in the mind which became darkened, blinded and eventually dead by the loss of God s grace. The loss of the divine grace led to the confusion of the first Adam. Consequently, all his nature became sick and this defected nature was subsequently inherited by all the human race. St. Paul writes, For as by one man s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man s obedience many will be made righteous (Romans 5:19), The early Fathers explain St. Paul s words not in a judicial sense; but in a medicinally healing outcome because it is the defiled nature that has been inherited. This true fact about the corrupt human nature forced God to send His only begotten son to liberate and heal the destroyed human nature. Comments by St. Cyril, the Great, Pillar of Faith After Adam s fall that drowned him in the mire of corruption, impure desires impregnated his inner being diffusing the law of defilement within his body members. Consequently, all became sinners not by having participated in Adam s disobedience to God; (for they were not present at that time of disobedience) but by virtue of descending from the fallen nature that resulted from Adam s disobedience and subsequent inheritance of lustful desires. 3

4 Man s stumbling block resides in the sickness of the human nature the salvation of which is achieved through curing and this therapy has been accomplished through Jesus Christ s healing and life giving sufferings. The Church, a Therapeutic Institution The church is the hospital where people obtain healing. Jesus Christ has founded the church in which to carry out His intended therapeutic purposes for mankind; thus making Himself available across the ages accomplishing His eternal transformational job within the human nature. The responsibility of the church is to bring the sick and prepare them to meet with Him to receive His forgiveness, instructions, and commandments throughout their life journey and attain life everlasting. The Church, a Hospital not a Court The basic precept derived from the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), and perpetuated by St. John Chrysostom depicts Jesus Christ as a Samaritan travelling along a deserted path coming across a person thrown to the ground wounded by thieves and left almost dead. A Samaritan (a stranger rejected by the Jewish race) felt compassion toward the wounded Jew and proceeded to cure his wounds pouring oil and wine on the wounds (the treatment method of the time). St. John Chrysostom s explication confirms the job of the church as a healing institution and the priests as assistant doctors under the service of the Chief Physician, healer of the human body, soul and spirit. The Soul-healing Process Psychotherapy is the basis of the healing and liberation of the mind. Baptism has offered healing; and through Baptism, labeled as birth of God versus birth of Adam, the human mind became enlightened and liberated from slavery to sin and Satan and united with God. That explains why Baptism is enlightenment. Purification of the Mind A lot has been said in the gospel and the apostles writings concerning the purity of the mind and heart. Jesus Christ in criticizing the Pharisees scrutiny of external cleansing while totally ignoring the internal one, said Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matthew 23:26). St. Paul urges the Christians in Corinth saying Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1). To the Hebrews he says, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14). Conducting the Process 4

5 The person capable of carrying out this soul cleansing process is primarily the priest or spiritual father who himself has been previously healed from his own spiritual ailments or is in the process of striving legally in order to be able to heal his spiritual children; lest he hears the common cliché Physician, heal yourself!' (Luke 4:23). For, whoever has been able to invade the enemy s frontiers is capable of safely leading his spiritual children along the road of therapy. Whoever has known the treasure called spiritual health will be able to assist others to procure this treasure. Whoever has acquired true self knowledge will be able to assist others to arrive at this knowledge. Therefore, if Christianity is primarily God s commission to heal souls and if priests are the ones assigned to bring the sick to Jesus Christ for healing through appropriate spiritual teachings and admonishing, those spiritual words and precepts ought to be the fruit of the healing process of the priest himself and at the same time the priest should be the exemplary leader showing his patients how to accomplish psychotherapy. In other words, the only ones capable of talking the talk are the ones who have been able to walk the walk. Those who have received their spiritual recovery and reached the threshold of union with God are the ones capable of speaking spirituality and theology and are fit to show the faithful the directions towards spiritual healing. Let us contemplate the teaching of the church fathers concerning this very special matter in order to become more enlightened and knowledgeable in this very sensitive topic. The Need for the Walk before the Talk The saintly fathers taught about the need for experiencing and understanding before speaking. In his early theological sermons, St. Gregory the Theologian says, Not everyone is permitted to speak about theology that is about God. For, this subject is not cheap or trivial to that extent. This job is assigned only to those who having passed the test, became beholders of God. That is to say those who have practiced, became experienced, well prepared and have finally passed from purification to enlightenment. Those alone are fortified to talk about God. Time of Enlightenment According to St. Gregory, enlightenment happens when we have been emptied of all external impurity, confusion and when no wrongful polluted stimuli control us. It is only then that 'we will be truly prepared to the knowledge of God' (Sermon 27:3). If the fathers affirm the need for experiencing the fact before talking the talk; this means that absence of experience leads ultimately to false talk about God. Mere eloquence is a mere words lacking power, void of vision and life, a counterfeit of truth, stumbling blocks before souls leading them to perdition. Signs of Experience Signs of tasting and experiencing God reside in love. Those who have received the grace of speaking theology are carried on the wings of love; and with the help of the Holy Spirit they receive the gift of discernment and wisdom along with good managing skills. All that the holy fathers have said proves that talking about the Deity is the fruit of lips speaking with deity and 5

6 not from lips void of theological experience. A person who has been cured from corrupt desire, liberated and purified is prepared to be ushered into the mysteries and the great truths about Divinity. That is why in the Orthodox Church, spiritual and theological paradigms are related to the gift of spiritual fatherhood. This necessitates that spiritual fathers become theological, expert and experienced in God to ensure proper and pure leadership. A theological scholar ought to have obtained the grace of fatherhood in order to be able to birth children in Jesus Christ not merely through words but through Jesus Christ Whom he has known experientially. Such a person will know how to present Jesus Christ to his brethren and his service will be shaped by the spirit of stewardship and the desire to search, help and save by bringing Jesus Christ s healing power to the sick souls. Articles on the Christian History - The Fourth Century 47. As usual, Satan does not give up easily. In Antioch, disregarding the recommendations of the Council of Sardica, the Arians continued with their immoral, debased conniving ways. By the time the three metropolitans arrived in Antioch, Stephen I, the Arian Bishop of Antioch, had already woven a new conspiracy (summer 344 AD). His followers hired a street whore to cause Metropolitan Euphrates to fall in sin with her. Finding the man very old, she deemed it impossible to seduce him to sin for the purpose of defiling his reputation. Therefore, she refused to carry out the plot. The incident became known in the city and in the following morning the news reached the emperor s ears. Upon discovering the culprit, Stephen I and his helpers, weaver of this devilish plot, were convicted. Stephen I and some priests were exiled from the bishopric and another Arian bishop Leontius was appointed in his place. 48. Hearing about the news, Constantius II, the emperor of the East, was disgusted at the immoral, debased Arian acts. So, he ordered the convening of a council in Antioch (the 4 th council in the history of the Arians-Alexandrian strife). According to Athanasius, it was convened in the summer of 344 AD. Again the Arians hurried to present their heresies in new delusive elaborately eloquent expressions. In trying to clear the air after Stephen I s evil act, they sent a delegation to the emperor of the West to please him and win him over to their side. At their first encounter with Constans the Emperor and the bishops of the West, thearians were asked to recite the Faith Creed of Nicea and the exiling terms of Arius. But they refused and returned dejectedly to their country. 49. Constantius II retreats and tries to befriend Athanasius: Emperor Constantius II was oscillating between the obvious clarity of the true faith and his own pride and pressure of his position. So, after discovering the debasement of the Arians, he tried to befriend Athanasius by giving order to bring back the priests and deacons exiled in Armenia. A month later (end of 344 AD), he sent to Alexandria a public creed prohibiting violence and persecution against all Pope Athanasius followers. Ten months later (June 345 AD), after the death of Gregorious, the alien bishop, the Emperor sent 6

7 three delegates to Athanasius urging him to return to Alexandria. In confirmation of his good intentions, he gave order that the churches remain without bishops till the return of the God-chosen ones. (The letters sent by the Emperor to Athanasius reflected both the work of God throughout the history of humanity. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding (Daniel 2:21), and The king s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes (Proverbs 21:1). Athanasius meets with Constantius II Seriously contemplating meeting with the emperor, Athanasius bid farewell to Bishop Julius who had welcomed him and his people in Rome in spite of the resultant harm inflicted on him by the Arians. According to history, Bishop Julius used to reiterate, I thank God for having given me the grace to meet with this great man. St Athanasuis mentioned that Bishop Julius had sent a message to the people in Alexandria full of love for the orthodox Christian faith and for St Athanasius who had been so faithful to his faith purpose. After that, Athanasius with his delegation departed for Alexandria to meet with the emperor although he had not much confidence in the personality nor performance of the emperor but entrusted his commission in the hands of God. With great respect the emperor listened to Pope Athanasius explaining the hardships he had gone through and imploring not to have them repeated saying, if it pleases you, it is best to call and confront those people to uncover the false allegations they had against us. The emperor did not wish to call for this confrontation; but sealing his words with an oath to God, he ordered that all that had been written against Athanasius be destroyed and confirmed that he would never again listen to such falsehood. Under the Arian pressure, the emperor tried to hold back one church for them in Alexandria thence they would continue spreading their corrupt beliefs. However, Athanasius ready reply silenced the emperor and stopped the last evil attempt. Ordering the safety and freedom of St Athanasius travelling route and path, the emperor bid him farewell. Socrates Account of the Dialogue between Athanasius and the Emperor..however, through the Arian schemes, the emperor tried to deceive him saying you are about to return to your seat by our concession and that of the synod; but since some of the congregation refuse to have fellowship with you, therefore, allow them to have a church of their own in Alexandria (for the Arians). Athanasius replied instantly, your highness, based on your power to order and execute orders as you wish, I ask you to grant me one desire. On the emperor s consent, Athanasius continued I also ask you to grant me the same thing you have asked from me, and that is to grant me a church in every city. The Arians soon realized the 7

8 danger surrounding them through Athanasius demand. So, they retreated and their last attempt failed. 51. The Returning Journey (From St. Athanasius writings) Departing from Antioch, Pope Athanasius came to Egypt from the east side passing through Syria and Judea, and was received by many people from the countries and cites he had passed through (end of 346 AD). St. Athanasius himself described his journey of return to his home country Egypt, church and people saying, Finally, under such circumstances, we were given permission to start our journey. Our friends were happy to meet us. But those from the other side were confused and some lost courage while some others repented and apologized for what they had written against us. In Jerusalem, Bishop Maximus convened a council under his headship to receive Pope Athanasius..with regard to the bishops and congregation in Egypt, Libya and Alexandria it is needless to describe how they crowded with incredible joy not only at the return of their beloved ones; but also at the liberation from the heretics who were like wild dogs and murderers." In his diary, St. Gregory of Nazianzus wrote describing those days, "people came from all sides of Alexandria and their love for Athanasius made them fly with joy and it overflowed like the Nile water would flood at its peak season and their clapping sound pierced the heavens sharply." This description brings to our mind the return of Pope Shenouda III from the exile imposed by President Sadat in St. Bishoy Monastery in The ten years of spiritual revival after St. Athanasius return from his second exile The Copts were obviously terribly worn out and depressed psychologically during the second exile of Pope Athanasius ( AD) especially when the stranger bishops tried hard to sway them to the Arian heretic beliefs. But God had already blessed his people in Egypt saying. 'Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.' (Isaiah 19:25). Consequently He would not allow this stressful situation to last long. St. Athanasius return brought about a remarkably strong revival. St. Athanasius describes this period saying, "Many virgins changed their mind and vowed themselves to Christ. Many young men followed the right path by imitating others' good example in adopting monasticism. Many fathers influenced their children and many children urged their parents to increase their celibacy. Many wives convinced their husbands and many husbands encouraged their wives to enter into a covenant of prayer. Many hungry and naked widows and orphans were satisfied, fed and attired by the love of friends who made peace after enmity. So much was the people's zeal and so strong their racing towards virtue. So much so, that every household and family would be considered to have become a church because of the righteousness of the inhabitants and their prayers before the Lord. As for the churches there was a wave of wonderful and deep peace and so much harmony and agreement among the bishops." 8

9 The ten years after the arrival of Athanasius to Egypt were the longest peaceful period during which a comprehensive revival of spiritual service prevailed in the Coptic church. St. Athanasius, at the age of 48 years, was in his full spiritual and mental maturity. Many historians called this period the golden epoch (St. Gregory of Nazianzus). 53. Pope Athanasius and Coptic Monasticism Monasticism started in Egypt through individual efforts of St. Amoun in Nitrea, west of Damanhur, St. Macarius the Great at Wadi El Natron,, St. Anthony in central Egypt and Eastern mountains, and St. Pachomius in the northern valley. News about monasticism spread and the spirituality of its founders perpetuated its effect. By the middle of the 4th century monasticism became in the eyes of the Copts the perfect way to attain eternity. St. Athanasius realized the status of monasticism in the heart of the Copts and its role in the mind of the church because of what the monks had done during the Arian persecution and his second exile. Therefore he returned with broad plans to implement and to intensify the role of the church. * Athanasius considered those monks gathering along with their founders as stable centers and strong forts for the undefiled Orthodox faith because the monks were knowledgeable in the faith and full of spiritual enlightenment. When the Arians tried to use the monks to invade those forts, they failed being dissipated in the midst of the strong spirituality of the monks. * Those monks gatherings were an asset for fortifying the places where the faith was shaken. In that respect many monks went forth to support the churches that had been weakened by persecution. Thus they broke the force of the Arian wave. * Athanasius realized the amount of the monks' spiritual impact on the church and on him personally because of their piety and prayerful life. Their life style was enough to awaken the hearts of many people and ignite their faith. * Athanasius began to enthusiastically encourage the monastic life in his sermons and writings on asceticism, monasticism and virginity. Thus, he ignited the spirit of asceticism among young men and women and that resulted in promoting consecration in a very obvious way. * St. Jerome wrote that Athanasius dealt with the subject of virginity quite often. Many of Athanasius' writings on the topic still exist. In addition, St Athanasius established rules and wrote prayers for the life of consecration as well as patterns of daily routine. Athanasius called monasticism "the angelic ritual", "the divine gift", "the source of the church's richness" and he called the virgins "Christ's brides". Other performances by Athanasius during his golden period * up to the middle of the 4th century bishops would be chosen from among married laymen because at that time monasticism was staying conservatively aloof from the world albeit all the good intentions. However, Athanasius was the first to ordain bishops from among monks known 9

10 for their knowledge and piety especially on the seats previously occupied by Arians. Naturally, every Bishop would be supported by the prayers and service of the monks of his monastery; and every monastery would in turn be supported by the diocese province. Thus, monasticism became a mediator in the church life; with the church offering her sons to monasticism and the latter offering deep spirituality to the church. * it should not be forgotten that Athanasius gave the Theology School of Alexandria great attention and care by appointing St. Didymus the Blind director of the school who brought about a strong spiritual revival in the Coptic history. * it is believed that it was during this golden epoch that St. Athanasius wrote his books "History of the Arians" and "Defense against Arianism" as well as his collection of articles about virginity and rules for the life of virgins and ascetics. Those and other writings would be read in churches and monk congregations. 10