After just visiting our local newspaper’s website, I was saddened to view the top local stories on the home page all encompassing, either directly or indirectly, negative events or aspects of our community; nine of which address criminal violence. The comment can be made that this is simply what the news forum wishes to highlight; however, this theme of negativity is common in our beautiful town, and has unfortunately affected many of us beyond newspaper headlines. Negative dynamics of society, and her members, are a derivative of spiritual sickness brought about through sin and the brokenness of the world. Therefore, when we view and experience this negativity in such an intense fashion, we must begin to ask ourselves what can be done in an effort to heal this sickness.
The source of all healing, and all that is good, is our Heavenly Father. Through Him we may find healing in the midst of worldly brokenness —one individual, one family, one neighborhood, one community at a time. By accepting His perfect self-sacrificial love, and extending it to one another on the streets of our great city, we will begin to see and experience a healing process to the spiritual sickness that plagues us. The source of this healing is God, who is the physician of our souls & bodies; however, through our individual expressions of authentic love, we must step forward as instruments and tools through which His Divine healing may be witness and experienced in the world.
It is ignorant and irresponsible to assume that all the individual members of our town will initially or even ultimately participate in this healing process, yet it is possible for one more individual to begin after reading this blog, and then another, and then another. Soon the subjects of the front page stories on the news website will begin to transform in content to messages of positive natures. You are to think of yourself as a mirror which has the ability to reflect the light of God into the darkness of the world. May our Lord and His limitless, unending love illumine us all as we strive to bring peace, hope and love into our lives, our towns, and our world.
Our community is blessed to have the Heaven Revealer, Saint Basil the Great as our Patron Saint, who consistently intercedes to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on our behalf. Our Patron’s feast day is January 1st, and this year our community gathered in his honor and celebrated on multiple levels. First and foremost, the most precious blessing that can be bestowed by the Church is Holy Communion, therefore, we gathered in prayer through the context of the Divine Liturgy, and those who were prepared received the Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Following this Eucharistic gathering, we gathered, together with many visitors, in the community hall for a New Year’s Eve celebration in honor of Saint Basil. Well over 300 people ate, danced, and shared in Christian fellowship as we welcomed 2008 with optimism and love.
A very special thank you must be extended to our Philoptochos Event Planning Committee, and especially its leaders, as they truly brought this celebration to fruition! What a tremendous blessing it was to see multiple, diverse individuals working together in Christian harmony—and then experience the fruit of this labor! Well done good and faithful servants…thank you!
May our Patron Saint Basil the Great Pray for Us,
+Fr Luke
King of all, you accepted also to be baptized in the Jordan by the hand of a servant, so that, having sanctified the nature of the waters, you, the sinless one, might make a way for our rebirth through water and Spirit and re-establish us in our original freedomPrayer from the Blessing of the Waters
It is most providential that God authentically and completely understands us; our emotions, struggles, life and even death, as He experienced them through taking human flesh by the incarnation and birth of His Son, out Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Beyond our understanding and experience of humility is the offering that God made to His creation, in the form of His Son. As recipients of this Divine love and compassion, we are obligated to recognize and offer glory to our Father in heaven for His love and all the forms we receive it.
In the month of January, we recognize and glorify one particular event where Christ’s humility and love for us may be witnessed, His baptism! January 6th the Holy Orthodox Church celebrates the Theophany of our Lord—His baptism at the hand of Saint John the Baptist! (Matt3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:29-34). In the sacrament of Holy Baptism, water, which we experience and equate n daily life to a means for cleansing, is transformed by the Holy Spirit so that it may be used for a cleansing of the soul and a renewal of life in the Body of Christ.
It is Christian tradition that baptism only happens once in an individual’s life; therefore, at the feast of Theophany, rather than recognizing it with repeated baptisms, the Church offers the service of the blessing of the waters. Regular water is again transformed by the Holy Spirit, through the prayers of the Church, into a medium of blessing – Holy Water. This transformed water is to be drunk by people of faith as an experience of particular blessing, and sprinkled through environments where people of faith dwell; homes, work places, etc.
As a community of faithful, let us offer glory to our God, the God who loves us to such an extent that He chose to humble Himself beyond measure or understanding, for us! This January 6th, as we celebrate the baptism of our Lord, let us truly and authentically offer the Lord our thanks, and experience the abundant blessings that He extends to us through His Church.
Psalm 98
O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory. The Lord has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises. Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn make joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
Let the sea roar and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it. Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
Psalm 98 proclaims a celebration, which not only people of faith but all of God’s creation is invited to participate. This celebration is in recognition that the Kingdom of God will reign unto the ages, and His Divine Love has been extended to all of His creation.
During this season as we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, the Feast Day of our Patron, Saint Basil the Great, and the coming of the New Year, let us be aware of the source from which these feasts and celebrations come – the Love of God! We will truly experience the celebration of these beautiful and transforming feasts when we recognize that their greatness spawns from a never-ending love that has been, currently is, and forever, will be extended to us. As cognizant recipients of God’s perfect love, we ascend to the status of Children of God, an honor beyond the constraints of our created minds!
Truly we have reason to rejoice – the Lord, our Father in Heaven, loves us! This year, as knowing recipients of His sanctifying love, Christmas will mean more than gifts and dinners, the feast of our Patron Saint Basil the Great will mean more than simply slice of Vasilopita, and the coming of the New Year will mean more than a party with friends and a new leaf – as knowing recipients of God’s Love, through each of these celebrations we will grow closer to our brothers and sisters in Christ, sharing amongst ourselves the love of God which has been given to us, and helping establish His Kingdom on earth!
May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bless each of you this season, as we strive to honor the love His Father extends to us, by extending it to each other! Merry Christmas, and Xronia Polla!
+Fr. Luke Palumbis
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