Tag: Orthodox Canada

“The last day, that great day of the feast” and the final restoration of Adam and humanity (a meditation on Pentecost)

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In the Gospel reading for the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian prophetically provides the context for humanity’s complete restoration, when he states “On the last day, that great day of the feast” (Jn. 7:37). This context is nothing less than the Lord’s restoration of Adam and humanity from the fall. This divine project starts as soon as Adam and Eve are expelled from paradise, continuing through the struggles and triumphs of Israel until the Lord decisively acts to save us in the Incarnation.  

Yet as profound as the incarnation of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ is – taking on our mortal nature – it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity. As miraculous as the Lord’s Nativity (according to the flesh) is – being born as a defenseless child for our sake – it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity. As condescending as the Lord’s entrance into the temple is  – being The very “light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel” (Mt. 2:32) –  it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity. 

As revelatory as the Lord’s Baptism and Theophany is – manifesting His divine life for us  – it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity. As illuminating as the Lord’s Transfiguration is – covering us with His uncreated light – it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity. As gracious as the Lord’s mystical supper is – sharing His broken body, and shed blood for us – it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity.

As selfless as the Lord’s passion and death on the Cross is – the total conviction of love for us – it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity. As joyful as the Lord’s resurrection on the third day is – the destruction of the “last enemy…death” (1 Cor. 15:27) –  it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity. As radiant as the Lord’s ascension on the fortieth day is – the glorification of our nature in the Kingdom of heaven is – it is only a part of the Lord’s saving work and restoration of our humanity.

All these profound, miraculous, condescending, revelatory, illuminating, gracious, selfless, joyful, and radiant works of the Lord for our salvation mystically bring us to Pentecost, that “last day, that great day of the feast” where “Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water...But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive” (Jn. 7:39)

The wonder of this feast and our commemoration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit “upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28) is that the Lord breathes His divine, eternal, and creative life into our lives, just as He did into Adam’s clay body on that sixth day. Truly that sixth day is perfected now on this “last day, that great day of the feast” and nothing more can be done – that is beyond our willingness to be “born again” (Jn. 3:3) at every moment of our lives and “fill up in (our) flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” (Col. 1:24).

That by the grace of the Holy Spirit, every day might be that “last day, that great day of the feast”, and the restoration of Adam and humanity in ourselves. That like Adam and Eve, we might see the wonders of God’s holy and good creation for the first time, never being ashamed of mortal nakedness (Gen. 2:25), poverty, brokenness, weaknesses, anxieties, sicknesses, and struggles. Truly we have being given “this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7).

“O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere and fillest all things; Treasury of Blessings, and Giver of Life – come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.”

12 Century mosaic of the creation of man from the
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Nuova -Palermo Italy.

Beyond Beauty. (A reflection on the “the most beautiful Holy Week and Pascha ever.”)

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As we stand on the threshold of the Lord’s Ascension, and finish our Paschal season, I have been reflecting on what in many respects has been the most beautiful Holy Week and Pascha I have celebrated, yet if I am being honest, I say this every year. Indeed The wonder that filled my heart at my first Holy Week and Pascha, celebrated 47 years ago in a small Russian-speaking parish (where I didn’t know what was going on) has never stoped. Regardless of the setting; whether it was after serving Holy Week and Pascha in a converted living room littered with sleeping children at a tiny mission, or my  first Holy Week and Pascha as a newly ordained deacon (where I didn’t know whether I was coming or going) or even my  first Holy Week and sunrise Paschal service at St. Nicholas (still not knowing whether I was coming or going), there has been the feeling that “this is the most beautiful Holy Week and Pascha I have ever served”

I found myself wondering why every past Holy Week and Pascha felt as fresh as this year’s Holy Week and Pascha services.  What I came to realise was that what made this year’s particular Holy Week and Pascha celebration so “special,” was that I gained a deeper understanding of  the “beauty” that is conveyed in the scriptures, hymns, offerings, and reality of what the Lord was and is doing for me, and all humanity.

Although much of my life and ministry has been formed around the principle of “beauty,” I don’t think I have really done more than take it at face value – that is, something is beautiful because it is beautiful. I suppose this approach could be understood exclusively as being subjective, independent of context, purpose, or its creator(s), and that isn’t necessarily wrong. However, the beauty expressed in the life of the Church, through image, sound or movement – a beauty that touches the soul – conveys something greater and beyond itself. This “beyond beauty” is the divine context: a manifestation of the Lord’s eternal and saving love. This “beyond beauty” is its divine purpose: our transformative participation in that saving love. This “beyond beauty” is the divine Creator Himself: whom we love because “He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:8). 

If it were not, then any expression of our faith through beauty (let alone our faith itself) might as well be as subjective as anything else… or I might as well be a goldfish forgetting everything the moment it passes.  But thankfully, I’m not a goldfish, and the Holy Week and Paschal services revealed (and reveal) something “beyond beauty” eternally, stretching from the past, to the present, and even into the future. 

The warmth of candle light, servers, vestments, singing, reading, bay leaves, rose water, priests, deacons and servers – all those elements marking Holy Week and Pascha, indeed manifested something inherently beautiful… because they were, without a doubt beautiful. Yet through the commitment, labour, and offerings of the clergy, choir, servers, council, and faithful of our blessed community (and I would suppose every Church) I was able to understand that beauty with all the more awe and wonder. To be sure, I don’t know if I would have ever realized any of this if I hadn’t caught a horrible cold and lost my voice this year. For the first time  in my life, I had to voluntarily take a step back (or at least try to) and although still serving (although I could only manage a few exclamations, sounding like a frog) I had the opportunity to pay attention to what was going on in the services and what everyone else around me was doing. 

I observed our council and members arranging and facilitating the many moving parts of our beautiful services and functions: revealing something more beautiful than any organic beauty or purpose. I listened as our choir sang those beautiful hymns and scriptures: transforming them into something more beautiful than any music or poetry. I saw that the Lord was being beautifully served by our clergy and servers (compensating for what I was not able to do): actualising something more beautiful and rich than the most majestic and royal services.  Lastly but more importantly, I was moved by the beautiful witness of our Church, packed with families offering themselves as a“living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” (Rm. 12:1), as being something more beautiful than the affirmation of our efforts: the embodiment of what we truly are – a “new creation”(Gal. 6:15) having been “united together in the likeness of His death”, and striving to “the likeness of His resurrection” (Rm. 6:5).

If this is not what Holy Week and Pascha are about, then all those past 47 Holy Week and Paschal services – however beautiful as they might have been – amount to nothing more than simple nostalgia or a fleeting memory. If that is the case, then I truly am no better  than a goldfish. But if I strive to encounter that which is “beyond beauty” and recognise its eternal context, purpose and creator in the saving love of the Lord, then there is no reason why every Holy Week and Pascha can’t ever be anything less than “the most beautiful Holy Week and Pascha ever.”

May the joy of the Risen Lord, who has trampled down death by death, and bestowed life upon those in the tombs, bless the work of Fr. Stephen, Deacons Greg, John and Nikita, Lisa and our amazing choir, Fadi and Matushka Robyn, Natalia and Raymond, and our council, our servers and faithful members and friends, with the unbounded joy that I experienced this past Holy Week and Pascha!  

Truly “this was the most beautiful Holy Week and Pascha ever”.

Christ is Risen! 

“Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him.” (a reflection on the Artos bread)

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One of the elements that is part of our Paschal celebration, is the Artos, a large round loaf of bread, with an icon of the Resurrection, either stamped on it or placed beside it. The Artos is positioned on the Ambon in front of the Iconostas, for the Paschal vigil and liturgy and by tradition, remains there throughout the rest of the week (it moves in front of the open Royal Doors when services are not being conducted). Indeed there is something special about the Artos given its specific placement, and this is further emphasised by the specific prayers blessing this bread following the service. 

There are in fact two prayers. One prayer is said on the feast of Pascha, and the second on Bright Saturday (although it is generally deferred to Sunday). In the first prayer, a connection is made between the exodus of Israel and the Lord’s Resurrection. The commandment to slay a lamb for Israel’s exodus from Egypt – the Lord’s liberation of His people—prefigures the Lord’s sacrifice, “the Lamb of God” (Jn.1:29) who willingly was slain upon the Cross, taking away the sins of the world, and providing our release from the enemy’s eternal slavery and hell’s indissoluble bonds.  There is also a connection between the kissing and tasting of this bread, and our participation in this heavenly blessing, from He who is the “Fountain of blessings, and the Bestower of healings.” The second prayer expresses the foundational principles that Jesus Christ is not only the “Bread of eternal life” (Jn. 6:35), but also the source of superabundant mercy and nourishment. As He blessed those five loaves in the wilderness and fed the five thousand (Mt. 14:13-21), we pray that the Lord would bless this bread granting bodily and spiritual blessings and health to those who partake of it in faith. 

Given this, the question arises: What makes this bread any different from the Eucharist, let alone the blessed bread offered after a Litya/Artoklasia or memorial, or even the Antidoron (bread offered after the Liturgy)? Furthermore, what makes this bread so different that it is specifically prayed over on Pascha, and then offered to the faithful on the following Saturday or Sunday?

Well first off, this bread is not communion. In the Eucharist, the bread (and wine)  is offered, and is mystically changed (Gk. μεταβολή, Metabole ) to become the Body of Christ in the form of bread (St. Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 22.3); the Artos at Pascha is bread, that is blessed (Gk. Εὐλογημένος, Eulogemenos) to be just that, blessed bread. Secondly, what differentiates Artos from those other blessed breads is that they aren’t necessarily connected to any feast, or event, and can be offered throughout the year. Whereas Artos is prayed over, sprinkled/splashed with holy water, and offered on the feast of feasts – the day without end (thus the full week on the Ambon) – its very context is Pascha, and for good reason. 

In the same way that the disciples Luke and Cleopas  had thier eyes open when their companion  (the risen Lord – Lk. 24:30-31), blessed and broke bread;  we too, are compelled to open the eyes of our hearts, in the blessing and breaking of this Artos bread, and realize the reality of the Resurrection and the abiding presence of the risen Lord, who has journeyed with us, is journeying with us, and will journey with us through life.

Following the Liturgy the Artos will be cut up and distributed to the faithful. Various customs exist regarding the handling of the Artos. Some families cut it further into smaller pieces, let the particles dry, and keep them in their family Icon corner (or in the freezer). Just like our storage and use of the blessed water from Theophany, the Artos should be piously eaten when one is sick or unable to attend Church. Alternatively, there are some that eat the Artos immediately. 

Whatever the customs surrounding the Artos we might observe, we are compelled to reference its context –  the Resurrection. This was beautifully explained by an older friend of mine, who would say that any time she ate the Artos, she would say a prayer of thanksgiving, cross herself, consume the tiny bit of dried bread, and then sing “Christ is Risen,” regardless of the time of year. 

Sermon for the 3rd Wednesday of Great Lent (Genesis 7:6-9).

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As we have moved through the readings of Great Lent, we started with the creation stories. We learned about the unique calling that we were given as human beings, who are the bridge between heaven and earth. However, almost immediately after this, we heard how humanity fell and hides from God, and is ultimately expelled from Eden.   Shortly after that we see Cain slaying his brother and moving to Nod. In the Septuagint, it reads that Nod is opposite Eden. This is not to mean, next door to Eden, but it is better thought of as opposed, or the opposite of Eden.

St Clement of Alexandria points out that Nod means “disturbance,” Eden, “the good life.” What can be a more pointed word-picture than opposite Eden? But here is where humanity finds itself. Opposite Eden in every way. We find ourselves in patterns of disturbance, if that isn’t an oxymoron. Everything in our lives is marked by disorder. And right on its heals comes death. 

Death, death and more death. We read about the death of Adams descendants in Genesis 5. The culmination of the story of each of his descendants is that they die. “And he died”, except for Enoch who, “walked with God”. 

And at the end of the story of Adam’s descendants who all die, we heard the story of a world that is truly opposite Eden. “Then the Lord God saw man’s wickedness, that it was great in the earth, and every intent of the thoughts within his heart was only evil continually (6:5).” Today’s reading is strangely a few short verses of a larger passage that was prescribed for yesterday’s reading. It sort of hyper-focuses on the entrance into the ark.

Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. 

Noah and his family are entering the ark that will save them from the floodwaters that are about to come. This is a story that gets told and retold throughout the pages of Scripture in various forms. God will preserve a faithful remnant. What is remnant? For those who sew, or for a carpenter, the remnant is something left-over. It is a piece of cloth or a chunk of wood that is too small to be useful. You might just throw it in the garbage or into the fire because you have no use for it.

 Another example of this story is seen in today’s reading from Isaiah chapter 10. Isaiah is lamenting that Israel has become disobedient to God. They disregard the poor and the needy. They take advantage of the orphan and the widow and God is about to bring judgement on them by allowing them to be invaded by the Assyrians and carried off so that only a remnant will be left. Though their numbers were as the sands of the sea, a remnant was going to be left which was such a small number that even a child could count them. 

This story of the remnant that is protected by God, is told by St Paul in Romans, who identifies us as the remnant, grafted into Israel. The fathers also tell the same story. And it is the story told in the Apacolypse of John.

Indeed, this story (these stories) are about us when we are ruled by our passions. This is where we find ourselves, a remnant, opposite Eden. But God doesn’t throw the remnant into the fire. Instead, this remnant is the very thing He is going to build his project with or sew his garment with. God promises to nurture and protect his remnant, just as He did in the days of Noah.

So what does this mean for us? 

When we find ourselves, “by the waters of Babylon,” when we find ourselves “opposite Eden” what are we to do? Well, the answer is at the same time both simple and yet exceedingly hard. Because another aspect we see in the remnant in Scripture is that what is required of them is faithfulness to God. Noah was obedient to God in building an ark when no one had ever seen rain on the earth. The prophets likewise tell us that, “The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth (Zep 3:13).” And St John, in his Revelation tells us that the remnant are those who keep the commandments of God. 

Likewise, our participation as members of the remnant is to be faithful and obedient to the commands of the Christ. His first command is to repent. We are offered this season to repent; will we take up that offer? In Matthew 25 on the Sunday of Last Judgement we heard other commandments: feed the hungry, cloth the naked, give the food and water to those who hunger and thirst, visit those in sick or in prison. Will we follow these commands or will we be distracted, yet again, by our passions?

Through the prayers of his holy prophets and the evangelists who show us the way to live, may we learn obedience to the commandments of Christ. 

March 11th 2026

Dn. John Schantz

Getting married. Something better than “the best day of their life” (another reflection on marriage)

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Weddings are truly amazing and life changing events that define our lives forever – and for good reason. Indeed in a wedding a man and woman start their new life together, that in many ways reconciles so many of the challenges that confront them. Any differences are put aside, sorrows are consoled and the mundane routines of life give way to extraordinary events. It is no wonder that so many have the expectation that their wedding day is “the best day of their life”, and for good reason, as it is a celebration of a dynamic and transformative love!

The challenge that snares so many newly married couples (and married couples) is when that celebration of love that was their wedding day, is seen simply as a past event; isolated, and insulated from the present and future. In short there is a temptation to see their wedding as being just a moment in time, or a unique experience never to be repeated. For many people, the “best day of their life” is tragically just that; a day (albeit a special one).  

Once the party is over, the guests have gone home, and the wedding gown has been put in a protective garment bag; all those things that were reconciled in their wedding return. Differences again challenge their relationship, those sorrows return to weigh them down, and life returns to a mundane cycle of activities. Alas, this is the reason we still have so many divorces; and even more tragically, why so many men and women avoid getting married altogether. And who could blame them? Indeed if the expectation is that their wedding is going to be “the best day of their life”, then it stands to reason that nothing really will ever be better than that – or – that after the wedding, it is all downhill. 

Of course one only has to look at those who have been happily married for decades, to see that there is a different articulation of this expectation. Without taking anything away from the wonder that is one’s wedding day; understanding it as being “the best day to start their life,”is a context that recognises that  “the best day of their life” is the starting point for that shared dynamic and transformative love, to grow into even better days throughout their marriage!  I think this is one reason that the Lord’s first miracle was manifested at a wedding (Jn. 2:1-11). 

14th century Fresco of the Miracle at Cana, from the Visoki Dečani monastery, Serbia.

As we all know, at the wedding feast in Cana, when the wine ran out, the Lord was asked to do something by his beloved mother, to which He did, in spectacular fashion! At His instruction the servants of the wedding party filled six stone jars with water, and then poured out the finest wine. One can imagine the astonishment of the master of the feast when he tasted the wine and exclaimed,  “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” (vs. 10). 

The miracle at this wedding – of the water turned to wine – expresses a theological principle about marriage; that as good as things are, even better things are yet to come. For what was shared at the wedding in Cana (and in every wedding) was the joyful and festive wine of humanity’s best intentions and desires.  Yet this wine as we know, ran out, just like any human endeavour (regardless of its good desires and intentions) being prone to bad days, broken circumstances, and selfishness.  But by God’s grace, what the Lord offered – and still offers at every wedding – was that of Himself – Love; for as St. John notes in his epistle “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:8). It is Himself that He changes the water of our finite and vacillating love, into the eternal and everlasting love of a new covenant – “the good wine.”  

The challenge that now lies before Evan and Anya (and all married couples) is to see something better than their wedding as being “best day of their life”. For they will have those bad days, broken circumstances, and selfish moments, that will make it seem like the wine they shared in the common cup was as tasteless as water, or worse, like a rancid and bitter imitation of what was once festive and joyful. 

But if Evan and Anya (and all married couples), with faith and love, strive to recognise the abiding presence of the Lord offered to them on their special day, and on each successive anniversary, and for that matter, in every day of their lives, it will be an even more bountiful and vigorous affirmation and witness of their love for each other and the world around them. For what they participated in at their wedding is truly holy, divine and eternal; transforming every aspect of their life from the inferior into the perfect, and the finite into the eternal. Indeed their shared love will be like that rich and strong “good wine” which the Lord offered in Cana, and even offers now. The wonder and miracle is that this wine will not only never run out, but like their sacrificial love, become unbelievably richer and stronger until the end of the ages! 

May God grant Evan and Anya many blessed years as they celebrate “the best way to start their life!”

Being at the start of everything new. (Reflection on marriage)

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By God’s grace and mercy, we will be celebrating the marriage of Andrew Hudson and Katrina Smith this Sunday afternoon.

Marriage in the Orthodox Church is a sacrament (mystery), and like all the sacraments in the Church, it is an act. Something good is offered to God, and the Lord acts to transform its goodness, so that it reveals something eternally good – something divine. It is a work of the Lord, who seeks to reconcile humanity, His “image” and ‘likeness” in Himself, with the unity and concord that humanity had with Him in the beginning.

It is good when a man and woman love each other, and promise to be with each other forever. Yet when that love for each other is offered sacramentally, it is transformed, manifesting that very same divine love that was intended for humanity from the very beginning. 

This is so beautifully expressed in the Orthodox sacrament of marriage. For the Lord acts to reconcile our estranged nature and our finite and fickle relationships, by sharing himself – mystically, with men and women in the sacrament of marriage, in a unity and communion of love, that offers an intimacy and closeness that is nothing less than the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit!

Indeed this unity is the context for Adam’s astonished exclamation “this is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh”  when he is presented with Eve (Gen. 2:23). This unity is expressed as being foundational in a marriage when the Lord says “But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ … and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mk. 10:6-9) 

The wonder of this sacrament, is this act of the Lord in reconciling humanity as it was meant to be in the beginning, has in a kind of way, brought Andrew and Kat – as they begin of new life as being “one flesh” – back to Eden. Like Adam and Eve, they are starting anew in a whole world of wonder and blessings, sharing in that love, grace and communion for each other, and in the very divine grace of the Lord who walked with Adam and Eve in paradise. 

Of course Andrew and Kat (and all of us) don’t live in paradise (although Winnipeg isn’t so bad), yet as with Adam and Eve, the Lord has put both Andrew and Kat “in a garden” (Gen. 2:8) that is rich and lush, lacking nothing in there unbounding love for the Lord and each other. And as the Lord commanded Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply”and “subdue” the chaos of creation, both of them are given that very same vocation’; to cultivate and grow this “garden” of their love, in the chaos of our broken and confused world, with the tools of mercy, peace, patience and sacrifice. 

This is hard work, but so is marriage. This is why we should remember them always, and especially on this day. That by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and by our prayers, the Kingdom of Heaven and the restoration of humanity, manifested in their marriage, might not only protect them; blunting the demonic attacks of the evil one; but also strengthen them as they participate in, and share in the Lord’s saving work, to save the world.

Truly may Andrew and Kat (and all those who are married) be inspired to hold fast to this vocation, and the  “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit”, as they begin this new life in this sacrament of unity and love. A divine life revealed in their marriage, as at the beginning in Eden. A divine life in their marriage, as revealed at the beginning of every day of their lives, with grace and love shared with each other, and the world around them. A divine life in their marriage, as being at the beginning of a new life in the Kingdom when the Lord comes in His glory. A divine life as being at the start of everything new!

May the Lord grant Andrew and Katrina many blessed years!

Unity and life -a “prairie Pascha” (reflection on the 50th anniversary of Holy Resurrection in Saskatoon, and the ordination of Fr. Johnathan Goosens, and Dn. Edwin Hay)

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As many of you know, last weekend I was in Saskatoon at the parish of Holy Resurrection. The wonder is that what I witnessed and participated in, was that of the unity and life of our Church.

The very fact that we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of Holy Resurrection, a community that had very humble beginnings (not unlike many other communities in our Archdiocese, including our own), and that we were present to shout “Axios” (worthy) for the ordination of Dn. Johnathan Goosens to the priesthood, and our own (by extension) Subdeacon Edwin (Cam) Hay to the diaconate, was truly amazing enough. Yet, there was something even more amazing than this.

Surrounding our beloved Archbishop Irénée were 11 priests and 9 deacons, (from Manitoba to BC) and about a hundred faithful, all offering our thanksgiving to God for what He has done, and what He is doing. Truly this speaks volumes to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our Church, and the unity of our faith.

Fr. Matthew Francis (Holy Apostles Mission in Chilliwack BC) described the weekend as being something like a “prairie Pascha”! No words could be truer. Indeed at Pascha, there is an unparalleled sense of unity and even a kind of closeness that sees no one as being a stranger, having experienced and participated in the Lord’s joyful and radiant victory over sin and death. This brings to mind the verse from the Paschal canon which beautifully exemplifies this, “let us call brothers (and sisters) even those who hate us, and forgive all by the resurrection, and so let us cry, Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”

This victory lavished upon all humanity in the Lord’s saving Pascha, is an event that should permeate every moment of our lives (especially when we celebrate the divine liturgy, a “little Pascha”). For the Lord in His love and work for us, has brought into harmony the discordance of our broken and individual lives, and by effect brings us in harmony with our family, friends, strangers and even enemies. Although I did not know some of the clergy or faithful there: I was as close to them as if they were indeed my own brothers and sisters. Although I might had had disagreements with some of clergy and faithful: we were in perfect accord. Although I hadn’t seen some of the clergy and faithful in years: I was as close to them, as if they lived next door. Truly it was paschal in every way. 

Of course we all had to go our own way back to our own lives, homes and parishes. Yet beyond the celebration of an amazing and miraculous 50 years, and the ordination of a priest and deacon, what was experienced, was that which is at the heart of our life as Christians – the proclamation of Gospel and the Lord’s saving work for humanity, and our unity with and in the Lord and His faithful, being members of His Body, the Church – regardless of where we came from, what we do, or even if it wasn’t Pascha. 

May the Lord grant us the eyes of faith to see this Paschal unity and life in even the most isolated and lonely movements of our lives; regardless of where we are, or day or season it might be! And may the Lord grant many years to the clergy and faithful of Holy Resurrection in Saskatoon, and to the newly ordained priest Johnathan , and deacon Edwin, and their family’s!

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

The Nativity of the Theotokos – The context of salvation.

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This week  we celebrate the first feast of the Church year, the Nativity of the Theotokos. Although this  is not a scriptural feast (Like the Annunciation) it nonetheless has been woven into the spiritual and liturgical life of the Church for many centuries. Indeed this can be a challenge for many people trying to understand Orthodox Christianity as it gives the impression that we are adding stuff to the Gospel, or that  the scriptures are not enough. Yet if we scratch the surface of a feast like the Nativity of the Theotokos, we see that everything about Mary, is about her son Jesus, and the witness of the Lord’s saving love as revealed in holy scripture… or to quote Fr. Thomas Hopko ” The Gospel is not about Mary, but Mary is certainly about the Gospel!” 

In all those feasts that are dedicated to her, what is brought to our attention is the whole economy (working out) of salvation. Her being conceived by Joachim and Anna (which we are celebrating), her nativity, her entrance into the temple (Nov. 21st), her conception of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ at the Annunciation of Gabriel (March 25th), and her Dormiton (Aug. 15th), speak with clarity about the love of God for His creation, and the length He goes to save us; “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men”(Phil. 2:6-7).   

The through line of all that is celebrated those feast days that focus on her, is the principle that the Lord’s saving work was never demonstrated  in a vacuum.

 It started with Israel’s covenant with the Lord, and the struggles to follow Him as witnessed by the holy men and women who clung to the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets. This struggle continued with the righteous Joachim and Anna, who in faith conceived, and brought forth a child in their barren old age -Mary – who in the fullness of time brought forth her son and our saviour, Jesus Christ. Emanuel, God with us!  

In the same way that the Lord worked with humanity, and through history, He continues to work with us; here and now. What was accomplished by the Old Testament those many prophets, kings, men and women like Joachim and Anna, who although  “having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise” God having provided something better for us,” (Heb. 11:39,40) is now accomplished by us through the grace of the Holy Spirit “poured into our hearts” (Rm. 5:5). For if the Lord  in His love for Humanity, did not act independently or arbitrarily in His saving work in those days of old, why would he do it now?  

This feast of the most holy Theotokos’ nativity is the perfection of a promise to redeem Israel and all humanity, manifested not in some awesome demonstration of divine power that would put most amazing CGI to shame, but in the most basic and natural way; through people willing to trust in the Lord, through a family. 

Although not a part of scripture, this feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos and ever virgin Mary, profoundly expresses the scriptural principle of the Lord’s saving love – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”. (Jn. 3:16-17). By the prayers of the most holy Theotokos and ever virgin Mary, and like the saints who throughout all the ages have placed their trust in Him (those “who hear the word of God and Keep it” (Lk. 11:28)).

May we also strive to work with a God who comes to save us, by being with us, by working with us, and profoundly, by being like us in every way except sin.

The longing to kneel – The Vespers of Pentecost (the kneeling prayers) 

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A particular element of Pentecost is the serving of Vespers of Pentecost and Kneeling prayers immediately following the Divine Liturgy. Yet given our circumstances (being a Church that takes a bit of work to get to  for a majority of our members), serving the full Vespers is not a practical option- as such we simplify the service, sing a number of the Pentecost Vespers hymns and read the “Kneeling prayers“. These prayers mark the  beginning of  a new cycle in the Church and our pilgrimage through time and history in what is generally called“ordinary time.” As Fr. Alexander Schmemann beautifully notes in describing this movement  “

It is evening again, and the night approaches, during which temptations and failures await us, when, more than anything else, we need Divine help, that presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who has already revealed to us the joyful End, who now will help us in our effort towards fulfillment and salvation”.

This “need” for “Divine help…presence and power of the Holy Spirit” compels us to kneel in supplication, for  ourselves, all creation, and even those who have fallen asleep in death.

There are three beautiful prayers read, that plead for the Lord’s assistance in helping and teaching us to follow the true path in “the dark and difficult night of our earthly existence.” The last prayer being set apart for all those who have departed this life before us, recognising that it is by the Holy Spirit “the giver of Life” that we love and know love; something not even death can separate us from, either in this age, or in the age to come. 

Indeed there is a peculiar joy of being able to kneel in prayer again; in solidarity of those who in every generation humbled themselves by kneeling in prayer for us. for in this  “we are strengthened by the words of the Disciples, who revealed the glory of the Benefactor and God of all. Let us bend our knees and hearts with them. since we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, bowing down in faith to worship the Savior of our souls!  (Tone 3 Aposticha – Vespers of Pentecost) 

How could this not be something we long for.

Pascha, Ascension and Pentecost – A “trinity of feasts”

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We are in the twilight of this blessed season of light and life. Our joyful proclamation  “Christ is Risen!” ends as we celebrate the “leavetaking of Pascha”, and is replaced with both wonder, as we witness the Lord of Glory ascending into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, and hope, as we are called to wait and “tarry…until you are endued with power from on high.” (Lk 24:39) on the blessed feast of Pentecost.

Indeed over the next 15 days or so we are called to reflect upon something of a “trinity of feasts” (Pascha, the Ascension, and Pentecost) – an unofficial yet apt description of the whole economy and working out of the Lord’s saving plan for us, revealed seamlessly in our services over the span of a few weeks.

We are called to joyfully reflect upon the eternal Pascha, of a God who liberates humanity from the ravages of death, by transforming death into life – by His death. We are called to reflect upon the Lord’s Ascension, with jubilation as our very human nature (flesh and blood) is reconciled and sat the right hand of the Father in the kingdom of heaven;  and we are called to radiantly reflect upon His promise for Pentecost, that He will not leave us orphans or as a flock without a shepherd, as we wait in anticipation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the“Comforter”  (Jn. 14:16) who “will guide you into all truth” (Jn. 13:3).

Of course this kind of perspective is a bit of a paradox (like many things in our faith) challenging our understanding of a logical progression of time and events (how can the past, future and present be considered uniquely, yet conveying unity?) Yet in many ways this “trinity of feasts” bears resemblance to the paradox of the Holy Trinity itself; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – One God (Homoousios ὁμοούσιος), in Three Persons (Hypóstasis ὑπόστασις). Unconfused distinction, in total unity, the source and substance of boundless love and communion.

Indeed, like the understanding of the Holy Trinity, our understanding of what this “trinity of feasts” reveals is the same – the witness of the Lord’s boundless love and communion for us, as experienced through faith. Faith in a God who has acted to save humanity eternally from sin and death. Faith in a God who ascends to “prepare a place” for us (John 14:2-3)  that we might truly become “communicants of life eternal”; and faith, in which we are constantly being transformed by the abiding presence of He “who is everywhere present and filling all things”. 

It is in this all that we are given an opportunity to understand simultaneously (in a manner), what the Lord has done for us (the past -His eternal Pascha shared with humanity in baptism), will do for us (the future – His eternal Ascension, and glorification of our humanity –Theosis), and is doing for us (the present – His eternal Pentecost, lived out in our Chrismation). Truly the witness of  His boundless love and communion.

It is truly a blessing that in these 15 days or so, we can be by faith be immersed in this “trinity of feasts” – Pascha, Ascension, and Pentecost  – the gift of divine love received; the promise of  divine love hoped for; and the participation of a divine love poured out on all flesh; “Now and ever and unto the ages of ages”. Amen!