OrthoAnalytika

Luke 8:5-15. Faith is a living seed sown by God, but it cannot survive in the air of ideology or emotion—it must take root in the heart. Fr. Anthony calls us to cultivate this inner soil through the ancient disciplines of the Church so that our faith might stand firm and bear fruit a hundredfold.  Enjoy the show! ---

Filling all things… Journey to Reality Chapter Five: Sacramental Thinking St John 14: 1-7.  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. St. Basil the Great (On the Holy Spirit).  We understand the “way” to be the road to perfection, advancing in order step by step through the words of righteousness and the illumination of knowledge, always yearning for that which lies ahead and straining toward the last mile, until we reach that blessed end, the knowledge of God, with which the Lord blesses those who believe in him. For truly our Lord is a good way, a straight road with no confusing forks or turns, leading us directly to the Father. For “no one comes to the Father,” he says, “except through me.” Such is our way up to God through his Son. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 8.18.  “Modern, westernized people tend to think about the world from the starting point of physicality.  The physical world, as we would say, is the primary reality… It is the objective, measurable world on which we can all agree.”  Page 50 of 142. The assumption of materialists is that if a thing cannot be measured, then it is unprovable, a matter of opinion, AND of lesser importance. The natural world is everyone’s baseline.  Religious or spiritual people have an added category, that of the “supernatural,” but as long as we operate in the material paradigm, these are the things that BY DEFINITION cannot be measured and are thus kind of optional.  Belief then becomes a way to stand up and assert that there are some things that are important that cannot be measured directly.  “I believe…” is our assertion that there is a supernatural reality and that it is well-ordered and that there are supernatural outcomes that should matter to us: ·      Forgiveness of sins ·      Sacramental marriage (vs. an agreement or contract) ·      Eternal life When we talk about religion, it is often in materialist terms. ·      What good is it (for health, family, society)? ·      What does it cost in terms of time and money? ·      Does its system make sense?  E.g. Juridical vs. Therapeutic vs. Holistic Healing But this worldview can only take us so far.  It “misses the mark” when it comes to understanding the world and how it works. An irony:  the materialist world may allow us to see things objectively, but not truly.  I am playing with words here, but it points to the difficulty. Objectivity refers to the quality of being unbiased and fair, making decisions based solely on facts rather than personal feelings or beliefs. It is often considered essential in fields like science and journalism to ensure accurate and impartial reporting or analysis. Objects have attributes that can be measured.  As a social scientist, I was taught that we have a poor understanding of something if we cannot put a number to it and that if we took enough measurements, we could explain everything.  Omniscience – or godhood – then is a matter of having enough data and the computing power to run the numbers.  Omnipotence involves the ability to manipulate everything towards a desired outcome.  This is no longer just the stuff of science fiction.  This is another one of those areas where claims are being made for technology that should not be made.  We can rightly question double-predestination, but what will keep us from doing the same thing as we grow in material understanding and power? A step in the right direction is to recognize that there is a moral dimension to the world.  But the problem is that it cannot be measured.  Outcomes can be measured, but their values can only be asserted.  This is why both secular philosophers like Nichze and religious ones like C.S. Lewis and Fr. Seraphim Rose claim that this kind of worldview leads to nihilism and the assertion of will.  Religious and spiritual people who believe in the supernatural will then say that God (or spirit, or Arche) is the solution to this problem.  Again, this gets us heading in a good direction, but it usually keeps within the materialist worldview.  Again, which system makes sense, agrees with what I prefer, has the best agape meal, and so on. But it really is strange to come at God in this manner.  All we are doing is taking the “God of the Gaps” concept and applying to morality and value.  This is like looking at the world through a two-dimensional, black and white filter. We can do better.  Let’s see how our ancestors did it. They did not see the natural and supernatural as separate.  It was just “the world.” Some things were visible and some things were invisible.  Just as we cannot see radiation, atoms, and gravity know them to be part of reality, so it was with our ancestors for the invisible things.  “This idea that the physical and the spiritual are not seperable has a few important implications.  If we say that the physical and the spiritual have to go together, then what we’re really saying is that there is a spiritual quality to everything physical, and a physical quality to everything spiritual.  This means, among other things, that physical objects and actions can have intrinsic meaning.” (Page 53 of 142) The example of two bisecting lines.  A Cross.  There is a story behind it, and that gives it subjective meaning, but there is more to it.  The things that are described in that story create meaning.  The cross is part of something primal and real it has “cosmic significance” (ibid).  And this is true regardless of whether people recognize it as such (example of vampires). Another way of describing this older view is as “enchanted” (vs. disenchanted).  Another way is that we are part of a grand story.  Stories are excellent at conveying meaning.  This is why some stories are said to be true even though they are fiction.  This is complete nonsense to the materialist mind. What about objectivity?  Isn’t this view biased?  Isn’t it subjective? It certainly is biased.  But it is only subjective because our perception of the world is incomplete and often wrong, and we really do assert our wills to create and share meaning.  We have to go beyond thinking about things primarily as either objective – meaning things that can be measured, or subjective – meaning things that cannot.  A refresher on objective vs. subjective: Pizza. ·      Objectively, it has bread, sauce, and topics of a certain type and consistency and spices that affect the olfactory system in certain measurable ways.  This is seen as what the pizza IS. ·      Subjectively, we prefer certain kinds of bread, sauce, topics, and spices.  This is our opinion about the pizza.  ·      We can argue about what belongs on a pizza or how it should be prepared, but it’s easy to come to an agreement on what the pizza actually is.  The problem with this kind of a dichotomy is that it turns value and meaning into a matter of opinion and not only does that lead to disaster – it doesn’t describe the way the world really is. Why disaster? Disagreeing about pizza can lead to arguments and bringing home a pizza one person sees as valuable and another doesn’t may lead to temper tantrums; but what if the thing being described is something like human life or someone else’s freedom?  Why is it wrong? Because everything has intrinsic value.  And this is because it has being through it’s connection to the source of value – the Arche.’ Personal Knowledge Another step in getting us to where we need to go is to look at knowledge that is gained personally, from the inside.  But even in relationships, we miss the mark.  Vices and virtues affect how well we can know things and people.  An angry person is going to notice – and even create – things in people and their behaviors that stoke their anger.  Humility allows the person to be open to the truth.  Vice clouds our vision. “The practice of virtue is, therefore, an essential element in seeking knowledge and the ultimate truth of things.  Why?  Because reality is participatory.  Or, to put it more simply, if you’re a bad person, you’re also going to be a bad friend.  If you’re jealous, resentful, petty, or arrogant, your going to have a hard time building a relationship with anyone to the extent that those impulses control your life.  To have better relationships, you have to be a better person.  And if Truth itself is a Person, you’re only going to be able to know Truth to the extent that you’re able to have a relationship with Him.” (Page 61 of 142) In summary: the physical and spiritual world are inseparable.  This gives everything meaning.  We learn that meaning through participation; this involves both intellectual and moral growth.  How can this work?  Tune in next week! Some questions:  ·      How is personal knowledge more than just data? ·      How do we keep from pretending our subjective opinions are illumined? ·      How does anyone know how clean their mirror is or how true their sight is?                    

St. Luke 6:31-36The Gospel’s “Golden Rule” reveals more than an ethical ideal—it unveils the way God heals His creation. Fr. Anthony shows how practicing mercy, even toward our enemies, transforms hearts and communities, turning the parish itself into an ark of salvation and mechanism of the world’s perfection.

St. Luke 5:1-11. Drawing on St. Luke’s account of Christ calling His disciples to become fishers of men, this homily explores why marriages and parishes often falter when built on human strength alone. Fr. Anthony reminds us that brokenness, poor models, and cultural confusion cannot be overcome by willpower or good intentions, but only through Christ and His Church. Just as the apostles’ empty nets were filled at the Lord’s command, so too our families and parishes flourish when rooted in His blessing and obedience. --- Homily: Why is it so hard to build a good marriage (and parish)? Saint Luke 5:1-11; Fishers of Men So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him (St. Luke 5:1-11). Introduction: How Christ Builds the Church This is a beautiful story from the ministry of Jesus Christ. It comes on the heels of his Baptism, his temptation by the devil in the wilderness, and the beginning of his preaching ministry in the synagogues of Galilee. In this Gospel, Christ has started building something very special; something that would never fall; something that would bring healing to broken humanity; something through which He would change the world. He began building the Church. And He did it with simple fishermen on the side of a lake. Continuation: We are Building, too We are participating in this work as well. We want to build something that will never fail; something that will bring healing to broken people; something that will transform a troubled place. We are building a parish. Today’s Gospel provides a wonderful lesson for us on this very thing. In his homily on today’s Gospel, St. Nikolai Velimirovich writes; “Except the Lord build the house, all who labor labor in vain.” (Psalm 126:1) If the builders build in God’s name, they will build a palace, even their hands are weak and their material poor. If, though, the builders build in their own name, in opposition to God, the work of their hands will be brought down as was the Tower of Babel. There is no power that can bring God’s work to ruin. Pagan palaces and cities fall into ruin, but God’s huts remain standing. That which God’s finger upholds stands more firmly than that which [the mythical titan] Atlas supports on his back… May the almighty Lord preserve us from the thought that we can achieve any good without His help and His blessing… May today’s Gospel serve as a warning that such vain thoughts must never be formulated our souls. It speaks of how all men’s efforts are in vain if God does not help them. While Christ’s apostle’s were fishing as men, they caught nothing; but when Christ commanded them to cast their nets once more into the sea, they caught such a great haul of fish that their nets tore. Why would anyone think they can build something worthwhile without Christ? I don’t know. It is futile. We know better. But we do it all the time. Understanding the Curse of Sin: the example of marriage Let’s look at the example of marriage. It can be so hard to get it right, and there are just so many ways to get it wrong. Why is it so hard? It isn’t because people aren’t trying. In fact, they are trying all kinds of things… but they aren’t working very well. At best, some couples might end up with a marriage that lasts, but marriage was not just meant to endure. It’s not supposed to be like a boxing match that makes it to the final round; with the two so tired they can hardly lift a glove and they just lean on one another gasping and looking forward to the bell (or, as is as likely to happen in marriages, the two just hang out in their separate corners doing their own thing until the final bell sounds). A good marriage does more than last, it brings joy to its members and its fruit brings happiness that endures from generation to generation. But why is this so rare? It should come as no surprise. Look how many people  come from broken families. It isn’t their fault, but this really puts them behind the eight ball. They come from broken families and a broken world, so they have bad examples and have internalized all the wrong instincts. Brokenness has been imprinted in their minds and hearts; this cannot help but shape their actions, no matter how good and noble their intentions are. Even if they try to rise above and do things right, what examples are they going to follow? Television? Movies? TikTok?  Their friends? Their hearts? None of these is a reliable guide – all of them are fallen. If statistics are correct – and there is no reason to doubt them – our young men are learning more about how to relate to women from pornography than they are from anything good and real. And the expectations and self-respect of our young women are being shaped by this same blighted culture. Is there really any wonder that we are so bad at marriage? That even those young couples who try to get it right end up building a perverted parody of the kind of blessed union of flesh and spirit that we celebrate in the Mystery of Crowning? That we have far more “towers of Babel” than temples of true love? Reiterating the Problem… and the solution To repeat the Psalm; “Except the Lord build the house, all who labor labor in vain.” (126:1). We cannot overcome our own brokenness by trying harder or following the examples and guidance of people who are broken, too (St. Matthew 15:14; … if the blind lead the blind both will fall into a pit). An alcoholic cannot live a healthy life by trying harder; he has to admit his problem, heal and transform his heart and habits. And he has to let God be the foundation of this process. This is why twelve-step programs are so successful: they transform the hearts and habits of the repentant, with God as the foundation of the process. How many addicts do you know that continue ruining their lives because they think they can work everything out on their own? But alcoholics and philanderers do not just hurt themselves. We know from history and our own observations that the children of alcoholics and broken homes are cursed by both nature and nurture. Again, it isn’t fair, but it is true. If we want the next generations to succeed then we have to be honest about both the cause and the cure of what ails them and us. The cause is our brokenness, and the cure is Christ Jesus. The cure is His Church. The cure is the Way of Holy Orthodoxy. All else is vanity. They are Towers of Babel. They are sand castles at a low tide. Back to Today’s Gospel: becoming fishers of men The curse of sin is the very thing that Christ came to remove. To put it in very practical terms, Christ came to save your marriages, to heal your addictions, to restore your sanity, and to replace your sorrow, pain, and frustration with joy and eternal blessedness. That is to say, He came to save you from the very real, very specific, and very damning problems in your life. And not just yours, but everyone’s. A world that was created good groans in agony, and our Lord loves it too much to allow that to continue. And so He became a man, He taught us, He died for us, He was resurrected and ascended into Glory, and, more to today’s point, He established the Church to be the Ark of our salvation. What a beautiful image a boat is for the Church. Think about it: we are drowning in a sea of sin and trying to tread water amidst a storm of temptation. We cannot survive this on our own, and it does not help to band together – eventually, even the strongest swimmer must succumb to weakness; moreover, the weak are infamous for dragging the stronger down. It is a terrible situation to be drowning in this stormy sea. Our breaths are numbered, and we are sure to die in agony. It is only a matter of time. But into this bleak scene comes salvation: the apostles cast out their nets and pull us in to the safety of the boat. We can finally breath without struggling. It is calm in the boat. It is here that our real healing begins… then we are given our own nets.  Conclusion: we cannot catch men if we don’t try; we cannot catch men if we don’t learn how We are in the boat. Here at Christ the Saviour, we have the fullness of the faith (we are like a fractal of the Universal Church) so it is fair to say that we are the boat. But remember that bit earlier about how nature and nurture conspire against our marriages? You know me well enough by now to know that I wasn’t just talking about marriage. Marriage is an image of the Church: the union of flesh with one another and the union of that one flesh with God (Ephesians 5:32). Why should we think that we are naturally any better at living as the Church than we are with marriage? The same forces work against us: we suffer from both nature and nurture. Just as good intentions are not enough for the children of broken homes, they are not enough for us as we try to build this parish. Without serious help, we will just end up building the equivalent of a miserable and failed marriage, another Tower of Babel, a perverse monument to our own fallenness. We cannot do it on our own.  We need help.   We need Christ. Without Him, we are like the Apostles in today’s lesson before our Lord came; “toiling all night and catching nothing” (St. Luke 5:5). It had been a hard night for them and they had given up on catching anything; but then Christ came and told them to go back out, and they caught more than they could carry. So many that their boats almost broke. This parish has been through a lot.  There was a time when it was down to a handful of people.  Like Simon in today’s lesson, we had good hearts and the best of intentions, but we were tired; and we had pretty much given up on catching fish. But the Lord has told us to get back out there and get it done. And so that is what we are doing.  Of course, we are smart in the ways of the world, and we are always tempted to rely on our own strength and our own hearts. But our hearts are broken and our strength will fail us. “Except the Lord build the house, all who labor labor in vain.” (126:1). But for those who put their trust in the Lord and in His way – there is no limit to the good that they can do. This is where we are. We have given our lives and the future of this parish to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Like Simon, we haven’t always seen the point of what the Lord commands, but also like Simon, we follow Him. And we know the result of doing the Lord’s will: the catch was so great that their nets were so full that they were all but bursting, and the ship could barely stay afloat.  Does this sound familiar?  The Lord has bless your commitment and your faith; and our growth has been so great that we wonder if our walls can hold the number of men, women, and children who have been pulled in to the safety of the Church. So great that we, like Simon calling for the second boat, are helping to plant missions and look for new properties to provide enough room. Because there is no reason to expect this growth to stop.  After all, there are a lot of people drowning in the waters around us. We cannot allow them to perish – it is God’s will that all be saved. It is a tough calling. But we do not labor in vain: because we are building according to the Lord’s command. We have been transformed fishers of men. To God be all glory and may He bless us as we do this work.

This episode introduces our series on Orthodox Christian virtue, beginning with the call to authentic masculinity. Fr. Anthony explains that true manhood is humble, courageous, and sacrificial, and can only be formed through living a life in fellowship with others. ------------- Introduction to our Series on Orthodox Christian Virtue Men’s Group, Christ the Saviour in Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins, 28 September 2025 Etymological note: the word “virtue” is from the Latin virtus, which means strength, manliness, and moral excellence.  The trick is not to redefine moral virtue around fallen concepts of manliness, but to regain the sort of masculinity that is, by its nature, both strong and godly (ie, holy). Why a Series on Orthodox Christian Masculinity? ·      Men struggle with the development of a proper goal and worldview that would allow them to thrive, specifically as Christian men. ·      Men increasingly lack sound role models and guides, but there are many influencers who would fill that role for all the wrong reasons and give bad advice. ·      This combination of high demand and unreliable supply means that everyone suffers; men who are called to be part of the solution to the problem of the world’s pain instead increase it. ·      The Orthodox Church is the fullness of the faith, but has addressed this problem inconsistently (Note on the book “Why Men Hate Going to Church”).  It is great to have Orthodox influencers addressing the issue, but this happens at the expense of building the kind of community would and should naturally foster community.  Men can watch videos, listen to podcasts (do men even read books anymore?!), and increase their tribal commitment to virtue, but unless they are in the trenches with other men committed to the same goal and part of a system that blesses and supports the goal and its pursuit, this is idle posturing.  o   This is the problem of superficial mentorship: ideas without connection or skin in the game. (incomplete or bad ecclesiology).  It is both gnostic (because it is anti-incarnational) and Protestant (in that each person becomes their own guide, moving to the idea/guru that matches their inclinations rather than joining and submitting to something substantial and real). o   The temptation of clericalism.  Leaving all teaching and mentoring to the parish priest. (incomplete or bad ecclesiology) o   As on the internet, the men who might want to step up and fill this void may not be suited for it because they lack the proper temperament, manner of life, experience, or training.  (Self-selection is bad ecclesiology.) Remember Matthew 15:14b on the blind leading the blind. ·      This is NOT a series that is going to present THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF MASCULINITY ™ so that we can all adjust our minds to its reality.  Lord willing, it will teach the right ideas, but that is not how real spiritual formation happens. ·      It is a series that is part of our effort to create a community of men who not only understand masculine virtue and commit themselves to its achievement, but also one where we train and work towards that standard together.  So it includes NOT JUST ideas of manliness but intentionally develops scalable ecclesial institutions that incarnate the living of those ideas through the brotherly support, mentorship, encouragement, and accountability. Your role in the process: commitment to living a life of virtue in community with others. My role in the process and why I am the leader of our local chapter ·      Long-standing commitment to Christian virtue and all the sacrifices that entails; as well as the many blessings that have followed. ·      Married thirty-five years.  ·      A respected and decorated leader in the Army, community, and Church. o   Retired Military Intelligence Chief Warrant Officer with deployments throughout the world, to include two to Afghanistan. o   Three master’s decrees: political science, divinity, and special education. o   Ordained as a priest in 2007, have been teaching seminary since 2008; and have served in multiple leadership positions in the national church and at seminary. ·      Trained and experienced in the concepts of teamwork, spiritual development, community, and theology. ·      A lifetime of experience teaching these concepts and discipling others to teach them in the military, academia, parishes, seminary, and on the internets. If I were into self-promotion or social media, these might get me a following; but the real reason that I am the leader of the process is ontological, that is to say baked into our reality: I am the legitimately and canonically ordained priest assigned by our bishop to the priest – that is to say the “elder” and pastor – of this parish.  This would be true even if I had never served in the military, taught at seminary, or enjoyed the benefits of a healthy marriage.  It is accepting the fact that we “go to war with the army and leaders we have, not the ones we want” that allows us to get traction in doing the work we are called to do.  We might gain a rudimentary understanding of what we are called to do and be as Christian men from our favorite Orthodox influencers on the internet, but if we are more attached to them and their virtual communities than the leaders and community in which we actually live, then we are setting ourselves up for failure.  The Church has been perfecting the saints for many centuries without the internet; it is foolishness to jettison that system in favor of one that has not been tested and is known to be skewed towards narcissism and exaggeration.  So here are the objectives of this series: ·      To provide a deeper understanding of Orthodox Christian Masculinity that each of us can defend and commit ourselves to. ·      To provide tools that will allow us to grow in personal holiness, first by dealing with our fallen “manly” temptations (anger, lust, gluttony, manipulation, and just checking out) and second by the acquisition of a peaceful, confident, and humble spirit. ·      To provide the tools – and not just the ideas! – to lead our family, communities, and parish. ·      To develop and intentional community of men, with mentorship, discipleship, and accountability. ·      That mentorship includes o   The expectation that every man will go to confession regularly and schedule meetings with his priest as necessary.  We should be going to confession AT LEAST FOUR TIMES A YEAR; the ideal is once a month. o   The development of horizontal friendships with other men IN THIS PARISH for encouragement, accountability, and the deepening of Christian love. o   Each of us will develop and maintain a relationship with a mentor.  You can have more than one mentor, just like you can go to more than one priest for confession, but the point is that salvation is LOCAL.  Again, you don’t go to war with the army and leaders you want, but with the one we have.  The temptation is to Americanize ecclesiology through the internet and to turn the local stable of churches and paraliturgical communities into our very own spiritual buffet.  Didn’t we say we wanted to give that way of thinking up when we became Orthodox? These mentors are: §  [NAME] §  [NAME] §  [NAME] §  [NAME] o   Why these?  §  They are old.  Let no man despise your youth, but a healthy culture has a special place and respect for gray beards.  Younger men are wonderful spiritual brothers and we should rely on them for such.  They can certainly be leaders in other ways, AND it is our job (and especially mine and the mentors) to disciple them so that they are able to do a better job than us when their beards turn gray.  This is within the spirit of having age requirements for formal ordination. §  They have been committed Orthodox Christians for a while.  This is important because it takes time for Orthodoxy to gain traction.  No one doubts the novice’s commitment, but experience is required for mentorship.  Again, this is in line with the spirit of ecclesial norms: Canon Law prohibits the ordination of novices.  ·      Think of it as a kind of apprenticeship, but one where we are all already active life-smiths, but need a good system to help us improve the quality of our work. So what is Orthodox Christian Masculinity? ·      The way of a man committed to living out his faith humbly, courageously, and sacrificially in service to God, family, and community. o   Humble o   Courage (confidence) o   Sacrificially: DUTY!!!  Get up and do something!  Reliability.  “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” —Theodore Roosevelt We are doing great deeds together.  To the glory of God and the transformation of the world.. Future classes: Mentors are going to lead.  Spiritual discipline and asceticism.  How to build a strong and safe home.  Financial asceticism.  How to protect and serve the weak and vulnerable.  In the meantime, commit yourself to being a reliable and godly man.  Peaceful and strong.  Give up things that distract you and build up habits that will make you better.  Lead your family in prayer, lead them in going to church; encourage your friends to be godly and hold them accountable in private when needed, and live the kind of Cross-carrying life that transforms your souls towards perfection and brings peace and joy to those around you.  

God is a Personal Triune Arche’ Journey to Reality Chapter Three: Who is God? Money quote from this chapter:“The reality is that Christianity is profoundly different from every other religion in history precisely because the Trinity solves this problem of the One and the Many on the basis that God’s nature is love.  No other religion is like that.” (pg 37 of 142) Framing Scripture on the Godhead (this is just an introduction to the subject): Genesis 16:7&13.  Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness by the spring on the way to Shur… Then Hagar called the name of Lord who spoke to her, “You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees-Me”; for she said, “I have seen the One who appeared to me face to face.” Genesis 19:24.  Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and on Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens. (repeated in Amos 4:11). Genesis 22:15-16.  Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you did this thing and for My sake did not spare your beloved son.  [God appears many times to Abraham in human form.  Jesus confirms that that was Him in John 8:56-58; Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad.” Therefore, the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.] “God had appeared to Jacob visibly in a dream at Bethel (Gen. 28:10–22), where he was identified as the Lord. Later the Angel of God came to Jacob in another dream and told him point-blank that he was the same God who met him at Bethel earlier (Gen. 31:11–12).” (Heiser, Supernatural), Ch 6). Exodus 3:4.  When the Lord saw he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”  Exodus 23:20-22. Behold I send My Angel before your face, to keep you in the way and to bring you into the land I prepared for you.  Listen to Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My Name is in Him. [In 1 Corinthians 10 and Hebrews 11, St. Paul explains that it was Jesus the Logos that brought the Israelites out of Egypt, was with them in their journey, and brought them into the promised land.  Jude 1 does the same.] Judges 6:20-24.  The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.  Then the Angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread.  And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.  Now Gideon perceived that this was the Angel of the Lord.  So Gideon said, “O Lord, my Lord!  For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”  Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”  So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it the Peace of the Lord.  To this day, it is still in Ephrata, the father of Esdri. Jeremiah 1:4-9.  Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Proverbs 8:22-30.  Wisdom’s role in creation. All this is to say that God has always been Three Persons and has always made Himself known to us through His Son.  Of course, the Incarnation is the most obvious of this.  We could do the same with the Holy Spirit. Which brings us back to Chapter Three: The moral reality of the Arche’.  Not just the unmoved mover – reality itself – but also GOOD itself.  This idea is fairly widespread. The Personal God.  But the Arche’ is also personal, with a mind and a will.  Must avoid allowing this to bring us back to the idea of gods like Zeus or such; or even the Universe as a person.  These pagan ideas are often well-intentioned, but they are too small. You can imagine something being a person.  A rock with a personality, or a cosmos with a spirit, but we mean a lot more than that. “We’re not taking some object (a rock, a mountain, a planet) and adding the idea of personhood to it.  We’re saying that the ultimate governing principle of reality – distinct from the created universe – is personal.  This is what we end up with “I AM” as His name. The One or the Many? What is a person like?  Are persons like water, appearing to be separate, but they merge when you put them together and their distinctiveness disappears.  In this view, the Arche is the source of all water, and persons have a propensity and calling to be brought back together into oneness with other drops and the Source.  This is the worldview of the “one”. Or perhaps persons are distinct objects.  You can put them together, as when you stack stones, but they keep their own uniqueness.  You cannot merge them together; if you break them up to do so, they are no longer themselves.  In this individualist view, the Arche’ is like one huge stone, and we have broken off of it and can never merge back with it. Both of these worldviews seem to explain an important element about the world we find ourselves in, but each does so at a cost.  The worldview of the One explains, truly enough, that there is some kind of fundamental unity among all people and all things, but it does so at the cost of our individualism.  Persons can’t really exist in this view; our distinctiveness turns out to be an illusion, as our very nature means that we belong to a greater whole that has no place for our individuality.  If a drop of water falls into the ocean, the drop ceases to exist and there’s no way to get it back. In a worldview of the many, we get to preserve our individuality but at the cost of any sense of unity.  Because (in this view) you don’t share a connection with any other person at the level of ultimate reality, there’s a sense in which you’ll always be alone, despite however many connections of relationships you make.  And in fact, this needs to be so in order to preserve your individual uniqueness.  Otherwise you’d just melt into other people and disappear – the way water droplets do.  Neither of these views paints a complete picture of the way we experience reality, and still less do they resolve the problem of how to understand the Arche’ as a person. … In order to transcend the limitations of both these views, we need a worldview that can combine the best features of the One and the many without being either of them. The Trinity Three distinct persons (individuals? No.) with one essence.  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Father is not the Son is not the Holy Spirit is not the Father.  BUT they are NOT separate: they are ONE GOD. There are many ways we try to simplify this: modes, focusing on one aspect at the expense of the others, personalities, three gods.  The Oneness and Threeness are part of the definition and need to be held together.  [Comparing it to a family?  Hmmmm (Awww, Patrick!)  ] Being and Love.  Neither the water nor the stone approach (one and many) has room for love.  But the Trinity is ideal for love: there are other persons to love, but it isn’t just an individual attribute of attraction.  Our individualism makes it hard for us to understand the implications of a world made for love by love.  We are relational beings.  Interdependent and connected. God is Love.   Three persons united in one essence and existing as a perfect, loving, community.  We are called be one as God is one. Next week: The Problem of the Fall?  

Sunday after the Exultation of the Cross Galatians 2:16-20; St. Mark 8:34-9:1 On the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross, Fr. Anthony reflects on Christ’s call to “take up your cross and follow Me.” Drawing on the imagery of military service, he shows how the Christian life demands selfless duty, not comfort, as we bear the Cross in love rather than mere suffering. He contrasts the marketer’s dream of the radiant sun with the scandal of the Cross, explaining why the Church, in wisdom, sets the Cross—not the Sun—as its banner. In Christ, the Cross becomes not a sign of death, but the Tree of Life that transforms our pain into victory and joy. ___ Homily: the Cross and the SunThe Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross “Take up your cross and follow me” There are many ways to understand this command. Many take it as God’s way of saying we need to put up with all the sufferings that our bodies give us.  That’s true, but there’s more to it that. I want to use the example of the soldier to explain how.  In the army, we would sing as we walked. It made the time go by more quickly, developed camaraderie, and taught us some valuable life lessons. One of the most popular went like this: 82nd patch on my shoulder, pick up your chutes and follow me, Airborne infantry, 10th Mountain patch on my shoulder, pick up your rucks and follow me, Mountain Infantry. That is what comes into mind every time I hear; “take up your cross and follow me”. The new verse might go something like this; Christ the Saviour patch on my shoulder pick up your cross and follow me, Christian infantry. Why is this useful? Think about it: what are these things that the soldiers are picking up? Why do they pick them up?  They use these things to battle the nation’s enemies.  They use these things to protect their families and keep their nation safe.  Most of all, these things are used in selfless service and duty for something other than themselves. Why do we pick up the cross? For the same reason. Selfless service and duty for something other than ourselves. Is there suffering involved?  Yes. Soldiers suffer. But it’s not about the suffering, it’s about the love (call it duty, that’s fine).  Yes. Christ suffered. But it’s not about the suffering; its about the love. Is there suffering involved for us? Yes. But we don’t count it as suffering. It is just the cost of doing what is right. The Cross: A marketer’s nightmare Have you ever thought about the implications of having the Cross as our standard?  It isn’t the kind of thing that a marketing team would come up with.  After all, who would market their product by saying, “Try this – it will cause a lot of pain!”  Marketers would have chosen the wonderful image of the Sun: it gives warmth, allows things to grow, and makes it so that we can see things as they really are.  Plus, in English at least, it is a homophone for “the Son”, so putting the “Sun of Righteousness” on our shields and chests could still be a witness of our reverence for Christ, our King and God. The Sun of Righteousness People love the sun.   I probably took it for granted growing up in the south, but after living in New England and other parts of the North for most of my adult life, I love and appreciate it even more now.  A sunrise after a long and difficult night gives new hope; a warm sun after a trying winter brings new life to tired bones.  Another tie-in that would make this a shoe-in for the marketing team is that we orient our churches to the East so that we can await the coming of the Messiah – again, the “Sun of Righteousness”.  The sun is such a huge part of our human subconscious, and it resonates with our Christian theology – surely it would be a better advertisement of the healing and resurrection power of the Church than a cross! Think about it!  The cross is the opposite of the sun.  The sun builds up life, the cross destroys it.  The sun gives comfort and warmth, the cross brings pain.  Everyone recognizes the value of the sun; the only ones who value the cross are tyrants and psychopaths – and they certainly don’t want it for themselves.  The marketers wring their hands, wondering who could possibly be attracted by such a symbol! The Logic of the Cross of Christ So why the cross?  I have told you before that when the Orthodox Church reveals something to me that doesn’t make sense, I rejoice because it means I am about to learn something new and grow as a Christian. [Leave aside the fact that non-human representations of Christ are problematic, e.g. the 82nd Canon of the Council of Trullo…] The Sun might have been the perfect emblem for us if we had not broken our covenant with God in the Garden of Eden.  Just as plants in the well-tended garden mature upwards towards the rays of the Sun, we were made to grow naturally towards the goodness emanating from the Christ.  Take a look sometime at the iconography from Genesis, chapter one.  There is a series by Michael Kapeluk available from the Ancient Faith Store, but the originals are in the chapel of St. Thomas at All Saints Camp in Northwestern PA, one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on God’s green earth.  Those icons provide a literal depiction of Christ in human form, bringing all the forms of creation into being (we recite this truth in the Creed every day; Christ is the one “through whom all things were made”).   Had we not chosen to grow according to our own will instead [a will that has become increasingly warped], we would have grown toward Christ from blameless simplicity into perfection, moving from blessing to blessing for all eternity.  So, to reiterate, the sun might have been a useful image for Christian theosis had we never fallen. This idea [of the Sun as our banner] is still attractive to us now because we want to pretend that the love God has for us is strong enough to grow us into joyful perfection all on its own.  We want to pretend as if we have no flaws that access to better sun and soil could not overcome.  The problem is, to continue the agricultural metaphor in the same way Jesus often did, [the problem is] that our roots are ruined.  They can grow nothing but nettles and weeds.  Without correcting the fatal flaws inherent within us, better soil and sunlight will only make for a bigger patch of poison ivy – it cannot turn that ivy into grape vines, wheat, or roses.  And even that result [that is, of bigger weeds] is only for the short term – Christ tells us what will happen to such weeds in the long term: they will be thrown into the fire (St. Matthew 13:30).   The Sun of Righteousness is a dead-end for weeds!  Our roots must be removed and our branches grafted to the True Vine in order for the rays and heat of the Sun of Righteousness to bring us everlasting growth and goodness.  Pruning is painful.  Grafting takes effort.  No one wants to do it, but the untended garden is a curse to your yard.  No one wants to do the work, but we know we have to.  So here’s the segue: We must be grafted to the Tree of Life, and that Tree is the Cross. Why We Love the Cross The Cross is the work of salvation.  Putting to death the old man so that the new one can live in Christ – this is how we are transformed into perfection.  Yes, it will be painful.  Excising sin and unhealthy habits is not a lot of fun.  But it has to be done.  It’s not a lot of fun to be patient and charitable in the face of hatred and stupidity, but that is the path of transformation.   We crucify our own sins, nailing them to the cross so that we can be forgiven and learn to live without them, but we are also crucified by a world that quickly turns against those who truly live in Christ and have Him living in them.   If the world hates you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; (John 15:18-20a) If we desire salvation, if we desire joy, if we desire to do good, then we must sew on that patch, deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Christ.  Being a Christian is not easy – we are sinful and so is the world we live in – but it is the only right and rational thing to do.  If we are comfortable as Christians, then we aren’t really trying.  The Cross is not comfortable, but it is our sign and symbol because it is the only path to victory. Epilogue All of you know pain.  All of you are tortured by crosses.  I have known you long enough to know the pain this world causes you.  For many of you, that pain and confusion has multiplied over the last couple of weeks.  Those crosses are real.  The pain they cause is real.  There is no end to the number of crosses in this world, but there is only one cross that saves, and that is the Cross of Christ.  We cannot choose what this world does to us, we cannot avoid the pain this world inflicts on us – but if we live our pain as Christ did on the Cross, our pain will transform us into invincible warriors and holy saints and this world into a garden of grace and delight.   All other crosses lead inexorably to death, but the Cross of Christ is the way of eternal peace and perfection.  

“I AM” (not a tribal god) Journey to Reality Chapter Three: Who is God? Preamble.  First – apologize.  If you want to see an object’s strengths and weaknesses, put it under stress.  We do this with our asceticism: prayer rules, regular participation in worship, fasting, and tithing are useful not just because they develop virtue, but because they test it.  They show the extent to which we need to work on our patience, reliability (faith), kindness, and trust.  For most people, most of the time, the responses are not life-threatening and they allow for repentance and change towards the better. Big stresses to the system do an even better job at exposing flaws and virtues. They can also do real damage to people’s souls.  Many have been going through that kind of a trial the past week.  As your pastor and, for many of you, your spiritual father, my main calling is to care for your souls.  I understand the complexity and dynamics at work in our society as a trained and  experienced social scientist, intelligence analyst, and theologian and, I will be happy to share some observations with you.  But these are sorts of things that many of you have been binging on over the past week.  And that in itself is often a tell; an indicator of a sickness. So first, I ask you the most important question: what have you learned about your spiritual health over the last week?  NOTE: I am not asking about your alleged discernment about the spiritual health of others, but of your own. 1 Corinthians 13:4-9. 4. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [But love never ends.] How are we doing on this?  To the extent we have been pulled off our peace, we are subject to manipulation.  If the con is well-done, people won’t even know they are being used.  Propaganda doesn’t just work on THEM, it works on everyone.  And there are always demonic propagandists looking for opportunities to manipulate for various purposes.  None of them good.   Now on to the Scripture Preparation for our Reading There is always a temptation to: ·      Turn God into a created and anthropomorphized god SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND HIM (Compare this to the Incarnation) ·      Turn God into a tribal god. This shows up in the Scriptures.  God has emotions (anger, jealousy) and sets aside the Jews as his portion/tribe.  The Bible is True, but its meaning is not always obvious. ·      Deuteronomy 4:23-24.  So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. ·      Deuteronomy 32:5-10.  When the Most High divided the nations, When He scattered the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations by the number of God’s angels.  For the Lord’s portion became the people of Jacob; the allotment of His inheritance is Israel.  We can turn God into our own tribal God and subsume our worship to tribal virtue signaling.  But that would be heresy.  Christian nationalism brings too many temptations.  It is NOT Orthodox.  We have the fullness of the faith, but we do not own God and His is the God of all mankind.  And more.  Worship and prayers are not spells, but our offering to the absolute source of all good things who has adopted us into His kingdom. Exodus 3:14. God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” St. Hilary of Pottiers (On the Trinity); In [the Books of Moses and the Prophets] I found the testimony of God the Creator about himself expressed in the following manner: “I am who I am,” and again, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: He who is, has sent me to you.” I was filled with admiration at such a clear definition of God, which spoke of the incomprehensible nature in language most suitable to our human understanding. It is known that there is nothing more characteristic of God than to be, because that itself which is does not belong to those things which will one day end or to those which had a beginning. But that which combines eternity with the power of unending happiness could never not have been, nor is it possible that one day it will not be, because what is divine is not liable to destruction, nor does it have a beginning. And since the eternity of God will not be untrue to itself in anything, he has revealed to us in a fitting manner this fact alone, that he is, in order to render testimony to his everlasting eternity. St. Jerome (Letter 15): There is one nature of God and one only; and this, and this alone, truly is. For absolute being is derived from no other source but is all its own. All things besides, that is, all things created, although they appear to be, soon are not. For there was a time when they were not, and that which once was not may again cease to be. God alone who is eternal, that is to say, who has no beginning, really deserves to be called an essence. Therefore also he says of him, “I am has sent me.”  Letter 15.4. St. Augustine (Tractate on the Gospel of John): Perhaps it was hard even for Moses himself, as it is much also for us, and much more for us, to understand what was said, “I am who I am” and “He who is has sent me to you.” And if by chance Moses understood, when would they to whom he was being sent understand? Therefore the Lord put aside what man could not grasp and added what he could grasp. For he added and said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” This you can grasp. But what mind can grasp, “I am who I am”? Tractate on the Gospel of John 38.8.3 St. John 8:58. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” St. Gregory the Great (Homily 16 on the Gospels).  Our Redeemer graciously turns their gaze away from his body and draws it to contemplation of his divinity. He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” “Before” indicates past time, “I am” present time. Because divinity does not have past and future time but always is, he did not say, “I was before Abraham” but “Before Abraham was, I am.” And so it was said to Moses, “I am who I am,” and “You will say to the children of Israel, ‘He who is has sent me to you.’ ” Therefore he who could draw near by manifesting his presence and depart after completing his life existed both before and after Abraham. Truth always exists, because nothing begins before it in time or comes to an end after it. When we have the correct understand of God, that He is the uncreated Arche’ whose essence IS; but that He also works in creation through His energies, we can add words to His Name without limiting Him.  Here are some examples (For a more complete list, see “on the Divine Names” by St. Dionysius): I am …With you… [I am] your God. (Isaiah 41:10; St. Matthew 28:20) I am He who comforts you (Isaiah 51:12) Way, Truth, Life. (St. John 14:6) Resurrection and the Life. (St. John 14:6) The True Vine (St. John 15:1,5) Light of the world. (St. John 8:12) Bread of Life (St. John 6:35) The Door (St. John 10:9) Good Shepherd (St. John 10:11) Alpha and Omega… (Revelation 1:8) This helps us understand Dr. Porcu’s point in chapter three.  The early Christians knew that God was the arche’, with all that this entailed, but they also knew that he was a Person with a Mind and a Will (p. 28). WHAT THIS DOESN’T MEAN. ·      The example of the rock that is a person.  The tree that is a person.  The planet that is a person. The star that is a person. The universe that is a person. ·      “However, this is not what we mean when we say that the arche’ is a person.  We’re not taking some object and adding the idea of personhood to it.  We’re saying that the ultimate governing principle of reality – distinct from the created universe – is personal. This is why God’s name – which allows us to relate to Him – is centered on existence. St. Jerome (Letter 15): As the angels, the sky, the earth, the seas all existed at the time, it must have been as the absolute being that God claimed for himself that name of essence, which seemed to be common to all. But because his nature alone is perfect and because in the three persons there subsists but one Godhead, which truly is and is one nature, whoever in the name of religion declares that there are in the Godhead three elements, three hypostases, that is, or essences, is striving really to predicate three natures of God. Letter 15.4. HIS BEING, HIS EXISTENCE, HIS ESSENCE, IS NOT SHARED WITH CREATION. His energies, however, are.  Which should we worship?  This, not intent or love, is the main difference between the Orthodox sacramental worldview and the pagan one.   Next week: The One or the Many?  

Exultation of the Cross Behold the Man: The Cross and Our Shared Criminality Homily on the Passion and the Cross I Corinthians 1:18-24; St. John 19:6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30-35 Christ was crucified among criminals, a mirror of our own sinfulness and complicity in His Passion.  Yet like the repentant theif, we are invited to turn to Him in humility, behold His mercy, and enter the Kingdom with the New Adam who reveals true humanity.  Enjoy the show! ++++++ Our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, was condemned and put on a cross to die in the midst of criminals.  Not just the obvious criminals, such as the thieves on his right and his left, but he was surrounded by them.  For the entire world had been given over to sin.  The religious authorities, the ones who knew the law and the prophets, and should have been the first to support him, were certainly criminal.  They “assembled together… unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him.” (Matthew 26:3-4).  They were jealous of Jesus, seeing how “the world is gone after him.” (John 12:9).  They did not want a trial; they wanted his death.  Remember that when the good and law-abiding man, Nicodemus, called them on this and suggested to them that Jesus be brought before the court for a hearing, saying, “Does our law judge any man, before it hears him, and know what he does?”  They mocked Nicodemus, saying, “Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.”  They were not interested in the Law or the Truth or even the facts; they were preserving their own comfort and power, and were willing to break the law and commit murder (deicide!) to protect it.  They were criminals. Nor were they the only criminals.  Think also of Judas, who participated in their perfidy by betraying his alleged friend and teacher for thirty pieces of silver.  And then there was the entire crowd who came out, and in their own criminality, chose the convicted criminal Barabbas over Christ.  As St. Nikolai Velimirovic puts it; “God or a criminal?  And the criminals choose the criminal.” Yes, Christ was surrounded by criminals.  But before we condemn them, let’s remember one of the first rules of biblical interpretation; when the scriptures speak of bad men, be they the scribes and pharisees, Judas, the Jewish people, or even common criminals, we are to think not just of them, but how it is that we are like them.  In our fallenness, it is easy to see the criminality of others, especially those with whom we disagree or are from other Babelic tribes than our own.  But so often their crimes are not obvious because they are so heinous, but because they have been magnified by the problems with our vision – we can only see darkness when our eyes are full of darkness and it is hard to see anything objectively when we have giant honking logs sticking out of our eye-sockets.  When tempted by such judgment, let us remember Christ, draw in the sand and say, “Let he who is without sin, throw the first stone.” Yes, we are all criminals of the sort that participated in the passion of our God; petty, jealous, riotous, scheming – it’s all there in our hearts and on our lives for everyone to see.  We are the criminals of this story.  All of us have sinned against God and against His Way. But there was one criminal who stepped out of his sin and the propaganda of the devil, and repented.  He accepted that he had earned his suffering.  Again, paraphrasing St. Nikolai; blessed is the criminal who, in the midst of his very real agony, does not lash out in condemnation of the other criminals but rather recognizes that he has earned his cross because of his sins.  The resulting clarity then allows him to see the God-man in his midst, repent, beg for God’s mercy, and then find himself in Paradise with his saviour.  We quote this saint every time we take communion: “Remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom”.  We imitate his words, but do we imitate the deep transformation that allowed him, while feeling such pain, to say them? And now that we have looked at the crowds of the scene described in today’s Gospel, let us look to Christ.  Right before today's reading, Pilate had brought our Lord out before the people after he had been beaten and scourged and had a crown of thorns put on his head and had said, “Behold the man!”. Yes, let us behold the man.  For Jesus was both fully God and fully man.  And His humanity had brought Him immense agony.  Earlier, we saw Him as a man when He was an infant in a cave, and when He and his family fled to Egypt, and when He was hungry and thirsty and had no place to lay his head.  Of course we also saw Him as God, walking on water, quelling storms, healing the sick, and multiplying loaves.  But at no time was his humanity more on display than from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Cross.  First, sweat poured from his head like blood because of anguish, and then that blood was joined by more from the lashes and the crown and the nails.  Jesus in the Garden was tormented; as man he knew pain and was expecting more – and as God He had ordained this as the path to the salvation of the world.  St. Nikolai writes; “these two were in conflict and had to be brought into accord.”  And so the man-mind and will went from the tortured; “if Thou be willing remove this up from Me” to the submissive “nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done.”  And when He did this, He acquired a peace that could not be broken by unjust accusations, or blasphemies, or physical pain. Yes, “Behold the Man”!  Behold the sort of man that God had in mind when he first formed Adam.  A man obedient to God and willing to do everything so that some might be saved.  Think of His dignity as He went to His death.  Not only did He avoid grumbling and condemnations, “He worked for the good of all to His dying breath.” (SNV, 201)  He desired good even in the midst of the pain of crucifixion, even in the midst of the most supreme injustice, and even in the midst of those who reviled Him.  As St. Luke records, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Do we see the charity?  Do we see the love?  Are we not drawn to imitate Him in His magnanimity?  Rather than throwing their sins against their teeth and shouting it out to God for vengeance, He was merciful toward them.  For even if the criminals who assaulted Him used words to justify their blasphemy, they “knew not what they did.” “Behold the Man.” Are we men?  Are we willing to imitate the Ur-Man, the New Adam; the very definition of what it means to be a man?  Can we be charitable in our pain?  Can we look to the salvation or others from the depths of our despair? And if this is, at least for now, beyond our reach, let us then imitate the one at his side, and focus not on the sins of others, but on our own, and turn to God in repentance, crying; “Remember me, Lord, in Thy Kingdom.”

In this episode, Fr. Anthony examines the nature of ultimate reality—God, gods, and the arche’—through Scripture and the Fathers. With insights from Journey to Reality, he shows how God transcends all categories and draws us into worship and transformation.  Enjoy the show! ------ Ultimate Reality: God, gods, arche’ Fr. Anthony Perkins; 10 September 2025 Text: Zachery Porcu, PhD. 2025. “Chapter 2 – Ultimate Reality” in Journey to Reality; Sacramental Life in a Secular Age.  Ancient Faith Publishing. Verses to Frame the Discussion Exodus 24:10. And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. Exodus 33:11. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tent. Isaiah 6:5. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” HE IS GREATER EVEN THAN THIS (SOME FUN WITH AN “INCONSISTENCY”  Exodus 33:17-20. And the LORD said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “I pray thee, show me thy glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live.” St. Ambrose: “Who shall see my face and live?” Scripture said, and rightly so. For our eyes cannot bear the sun’s rays, and whoever turns too long in its direction is generally blinded, so they say. Now if one creature cannot look upon another creature without loss and harm to himself, how can he see the dazzling face of his eternal Creator while covered with the clothing that is this body? St. Gregory of Nyssa: He would not have shown himself to his servant if the sight were such as to bring the desire of the beholder to an end, since the true sight of God consists in this, that the one who looks up to God never ceases in that desire. For he says, “You cannot see my face, for man cannot see me and live.” Scripture does not indicate that this causes the death of those who look, for how would the face of life ever be the cause of death to those who approach it? On the contrary, the divine is by its nature life-giving. Yet it is the characteristic of the divine nature to transcend all characteristics. Therefore he who thinks God is something to be known does not have life, because he has turned from true being to what he considers by sense perception to have being. Job 38:19-20.  “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,   that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? 1 Timothy 6:16. I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ;  and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,  who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. John 1:18. No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. On the resulting religion: Revelation 9-11.  And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,  “Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding[a] the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. St. John Chrysostom.  The Spirit is God, and we are raised to the level of the apostles, because we shall all behold him together with uncovered faces. As soon as we are baptized, the soul beams even more brightly than the sun because it is cleansed by the Spirit, and we not only behold God’s glory, we also receive from it a kind of splendor. Segue to the book chapter (theosis requires a repentant mind) Religion should be more than our consumer society would lead us to believe it is. “What is the nature of reality?”  What does it all mean? Mankind wants to know, and he has tried to provide answers.  Many involve a mysterious higher power we call God. The problem with the word “God.” [Psalm 94:3.  For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.] [Isaiah 45:5.. I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.] Zachary Porcu’s solution: Arche’ Other solutions? Capital “G” God.  “I AM”.  Unmoved Mover. Light.  True God. Tian, Brahman, Absolute. What is the Arche’ like? (P. 25; J) Life (essence).  Light (essence) Arche compared to gods, angels, men, and rocks. Last paragraph of chapter; So then, when we ask about whether there is a God in this sense, we are not asking whether there is some specific superhuman entity that orders or governs the universe.  That is thinking far too small.  We are asking about the arche’ of all being: the source, principle, the thing that is being itself.  This is the highest of all questions; there is nothing the answer does not affect.  NOTE: The question of whether the God of the Old Testament was the arche’ or a demiurge was settled decisively: God was, is, and always shall be perfect and uncreated.