Parable of the Sower

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

How familiar, and how simple seems to us, appears to us today's parable of the seed and of the Sower; and yet, how relevant it is to us, and how much more thought we should give to it. We forget the setting itself of the parable, the imagery of the Sower and the seed, and we don’t see in it an image of Christ, walking along the roads and the paths of Galilee and Judea; and everywhere He went, people came to the roadside because they have heard, as the Blind Man have heard of whom Saint Marc reports, that He was a Teacher, that His words were true, that they had in them a power of life.

And people came, and lined the roads, and lined the streets, and listened. Some were prepared for the message; some have been in an agony of mind, have been asking themselves questions which hitherto no one have been able to answer. But others came, as so many people come now to a preacher, to an evangelist, to a leader of any side, came to see a man of whom one spoke, and to listen to what he had to say. He was not answering any of their questions, He was not meeting any of their needs, except perhaps the desire to see someone that was outstanding, someone unique in his time. They heard the word, but it fell at their ears, they find it beautiful, lovely, true - but it did not go beyond this. They were listening to words, they were not listening to the cry of their own soul that was hungry for words of truth.

And so, when He had passed, they all returned to what was their ordinary, their normal life. They might have gone home and repeated these words, saying, Wasn't it lovely? Didnt He speak well? - and then they went back to what was life, ordinary life, day-to-day life...

Others, who had come to the roadside, received the message with emotion, it stirred something in their hearts, something in their minds, it answered something in them. And they received it and hugged it to themselves, and returned home; but the moment they were no longer by the road, at home, the concerns of home overwhelmed them: there was so much to do, so much to think about, there was so much in life, there was no time to reflect again and again on the words heard, there was no time to sit quietly and to look in imagination at the face they had seen, to rehearse the voice they have heard.

We have another parable about those who have been called to the Bridal Feast of the King: they heard a call; they knew they were called personally - but could they go? The one had bought a field, he was rooted in it, tied to it, a prisoner of it; others have bought five pairs of oxen - they had to try them, they had something to do in life, a vocation, a job, something great - or something simply that matters supremely in a personal way, as the last one: he had taken a bride - how could he spend time for anyone else?

Those are the people who receive the word, who receive it truly, in their heart, but there are so many things that matter - tomorrow will do, or, if we only could reduce the message to something liveable, simple, not to the absoluteness of it!

And then, those who receive the message, like the rich soil that could receive the message, receive a seed and bear fruit. Those people were not simply better people, they probably were not better people; they were people who had a question in their mind and heart, people who had a longing, people for whom their daily life was too narrow, too small, people who were aware that their soul was deep, and vast and could not be filled with the trivialities - or even the noble, the good things of life: they received the message, they took it to heart, deep into them, and they bore fruit because it was answering a need.

Now, we can apply it to ourselves: how many of us listen to the words of the Gospel, listen to the words of preaching, read books that are full of interest and depth, and they store it in their memory, they enjoy it - but that is the end; they can quote it, they can pass it on to others, - but that is all.

And there are so many of us who have received the message with enthusiasm, with passion, knowing that this message is an answer to all there is in us of longing, of hunger, of greatness, indeed; but then, life is so complex, there is so much to do! And in all this doing, in all this complexity the words is left aside - for another time, for another day, when I will be old enough not to have any concerns: then I can turn back to this glorious moment when life unfolded itself in all its splendor - I keep it in my memory!

What about us, receiving the message and bearing fruit?

But how does this message reach us? I remember a Russian priest saying to me, I read the Gospel daily, and I respond to it very seldom. But I read it daily because I never know whether today, or tomorrow, or on another day I will be the barren roadside, or the weeds by the way, or, of a sudden, whether this word will not fall on a small patch in me which is capable of receiving it and bearing fruit.

Isn't that simple, isn't that encouraging? We all are the three things described in the parable of the Gospel; but if we give a chance to God Who speaks, to God, Who passes through our life, to God Who knocks at our heart - from time to time we will receive the message with joy and let go of it; but from time to time it will reach a depth in our heart, a core of our life and be the answer that will change it.

Let us therefore listen, listen to the words of the Gospel day in and day out; listen to the voice of our conscience, listen to what the deepest self says to us about life, about truth, about reality; and from time to time we will have been the good ground that can bear fruit.

This parable, so simple, so clear, if we only apply it, can be a beginning of a new life. Amen.

Protecting Veil of the Mother of God

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Time and again we ask ourselves what is the aim of the Christian life: what can we do to be true Christians? A simple, but very realistic reply is to say, "Fulfil all the commandments, and you will be a Christian".

And yet, we may fulfil all the commandments, we may feel that we are right before God, but if our heart is not in what we do, we have not done what a Christian is called to do, to be, because the commandments which Christ left us are not drilling orders. In the commandments He reveals to us that we should do if our heart were pure, if we communed with God, if we were true to ourselves. These are the things — He says — that should become natural to you, and therefore, you can judge yourselves by comparing not your deeds to the commandments, but your heart to the inspiration that would make them natural. And so, it is not simply by doing things that this is achieved, but by becoming the kind of person for whom these things are their true nature; in other words, by willing to be the true, undistorted image of Christ.

But where do we begin then? It is easy to be doers — how can we change our hearts; how can we find inspiration indeed to do it? It we think of God, if we think that God has so loved us that, to use the words of Saint Paul, He came to save us while we were still His enemies, that He gave his life that we may live free from evil; then what should be our first reaction, our first response? I think, at that level we should say, "Let my whole life be evidence to God that I have understood understood that He believed in me and felt it was worth giving His own life for me, that He hoped that I would respond, and He loved me unto life and unto death."

If we have understood this, not only the love of God, but the faith He has in us, the hope He has placed upon us, then our first step should be to build our life in such a way as to be a joy for God; if we only could think of our lives as a way of giving God a little joy — not the exulting joy of perfect victory, but a joy which a mother, a father, a guide has when a child, a youth, a grown up man or woman says, "I do understand, I have understood, and now all my life I will strive to show my understanding". And showing our understanding of God's love, of God's faith and hope does not consist in singing praises to Him; it consists in making all our life a hymn of gratitude, so that seeing what we do, how gradually we become new people, how our hearts, full of gratitude and of joy, make us shine with an inner light, then we will have begun on our spiritual life.

There is a passage in the Gospel, in which we are told, "Let your light so shine before men that seeing this light, they may give glory to the Father Who is in Heaven...". What is this light which we must reveal, unveil, let freely shine around us? It is not our own light, it is not manifesting our intelligence, our human warmth, our talents; it is becoming so filled with what is God's, so transparent to His light, that His light may shine freely, and not be kept, as it were, in the darkness of our soul. Again, — it is the only way we can cast light, share light with others, because our talents, our intelligence, our hearts, may well be below those of others, while this light is life, this light is enlightenment, this light can help others to become new.

So let us begin with simply being actively grateful to God, — actively grateful: not emotionally, but indeed, to the core of our being, in every thought, in heart, in our will and action.

Feastday of St. John of San Francisco

Holy Virgin Cathedral – November 30, 2012 (n.s.)

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen!

            “I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”   In his teaching on these words from today’s Gospel lesson, St. Gregory the Dialogist reminds us that our Lord came into the world and died for us, “in order to change His Body and Blood into a Sacrament for us, and to satisfy the sheep He has redeemed with His own body as food.”  And having risen from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and sent the All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit upon His Apostles at Pentecost, our Most-sweet Lord Jesus then permeated the living presence of His Body and Blood by the “laying on of hands” --- through which He anointed pious men to become good Shepherds to His sheep, until His awesome and fearful return to judge the earth.

         What a sacred honor it is for this sinful and unworthy priest to be in the presence of the living holy relics of one of our Lord’s true Shepherds of souls: our holy Father among the Saints, John of Shanghai and San Francisco!  Some of you present today were blessed to have worshipped with St. John, and directly received his Spirit-filled teachings and guidance, before God called him into His Heavenly Kingdom.  And yet, far from leaving you few eyewitnesses as orphans, our All-Compassionate Saviour has made St. John accessible to everyone here and to the entire world.  What overflowing Grace has God poured out upon our humble Shepherd!  Who can number the countless thousands of souls who – through prayers, letters and/or kneeling before his sacred, incorrupt body - have received soul and body healings for themselves and for others?

         Indeed, as these words - taken randomly from his Akathist – exclaim, St. John is: a “helper of all who call upon [him] with faith”; an “infirmary where every ailment is healed”; “refreshing water for those perishing in the heat of sorrows”; one “who works wonders for those who come to [his] relics with faith and love;” one “whose love knows no bounds of country and race;” a “fountain of miracles poured out by God”!

         In addition to his miracle-working powers, we are also blessed to have his Spirit-filled teachings for the nourishment and healing of our wounded souls.  And how desperatelywe need those teachings today, my beloved sojourners on the sea of life! They are words of one who has become the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his thoughts, words and actions.  They are words of a true Shepherd, and notthose of a hireling, who – as the Lord says – “sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep” --- that noetic wolf, the evil one, who comes “to steal, and slay, and destroy” as many souls as possible.

         While he walked amongst us, St. John was God’s instrument to protect a large number of souls from the devil’s efforts to destroy them.  Today, he continues to be God’s instrument – on an even greater scale – to transformthose who seek his divine intercession: so that the various afflictions and injustices one encounters in life become sources of joy and hope, rather than sorrow and despair; so that the loss of such temporal things as material wealth and physical well-being, give birth to spiritual treasures and soul-healings that are eternal; so that one’s superficial self-centered existence, becomes a profound Christ-centered life!

         Permit me to share a few ‘spiritual morsels’ from the great banquet of his teachings.  St. John reminds us that “God’s grace always assists the struggler … What is important is not victory, or the position of a victor, but rather the labor of striving towards God and devotion to Him.”  The Saint refers to these words of St. Paul: that God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (II Cor. 12:9); and he adds that “the power of God is effective when a person asks for the help of God, acknowledging the weakness and sinfulness of his nature”.This is why St. John believes that “humility and striving towards God are the fundamental virtues of a Christian.” Are these primary virtues alive in the trenches of our daily lives? An old priest once told me: “This temporal life will be either one of agony or struggle: with Christ it is a struggle, without Him, it is agony.”  Today, do our lives personify someone who is struggling with Christ, or in agony without Him?

             In a sermon he gave over 50 year ago, St. John lamented that “public life had departed from Christian paths.”  O my dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus, what would our holy Hierarch say about the condition of society today?  In the last 39 years we have “legally” slaughtered 56 million pre-born babies upon the ungodly altar of privacy, convenience and profit.  Euthanasia is now legal in at least two states, and strong efforts are in place to make this a national pastime in a few years.  Many high-level politicians and judges are now assaulting the institution of marriage.  Last year, the President declared that the entire month of June is now to be celebrated as National LGBT(Lesbian, Gay, bi-sexual & Trans-sexual) Month, so as to seemingly bestow our Nation’s approval on these soul-destroying lifestyles.  And the organization of Planned Parenthood, in addition to killing over 300,000 babies a year for profit, is seeking to brainwash even our grade school children with their sex education literature, which destroys the Christian virtues of purity and modesty, and glorifies all sins of the flesh!  Our Nation has replaced God’s Truth with man’s fallen reasoning. Do not these words of the holy Prophet, Isaias, succinctly describe the condition of our society today? “Woe to them that call evil good and good evil; who make darkness light and light darkness. … Woe to them who are wise in their own conceit … who justify the ungodly for rewards, and take away the righteousness of the righteous” (Is.5:20-23)!    

              Only God’s Truth, as preserved in our Holy Orthodox Faith, can save our society from its rapid descent into irreversible perdition. Our beloved holy Hierarch, Fr. John, devoted every fiber of his being to upholding the true doctrine and moral integrity of our Holy Orthodox Faith. He daily entreated our Lord to both help and strengthen him to actively “labor unto death” for that Truth.  And, through the grace of God, he continues that active labor!  By his example, we see that Holy Orthodoxy cannot simply be a part of our lives.  It cannot be something that we turn on and off, like the appliances we use.  Our Holy Faith must be present in all aspects of our lives: from the way we worship God in the Divine Liturgy, to the way we drive our cars; from the manner in which we make the sign of the Cross, to the manner in which we prepare a meal, raise our children, or perform our secular work.  Only by striving with all of our strength to live the Faith in this manner can we come to truly know Christ --- to truly know ourselves.

         Because he incarnated God’s Truth in all of his words and actions, St. John received a number of heavenly crowns; which include: Confessor, Defender of the Faith and – in a spiritual sense - Martyr. Today in the United States, where are the defenders of the Faith?  Where are the confessors?  Where are the martyrs? Where are those, both clergy and laity, who – like St. John – are being ‘reproached, persecuted, and having every evil word being said falsely against them on account of Christ and His One True Church?’   Is it possible that we have allowed both the demands and sensual pleasures of our society to put us in a state of spiritual lethargy and indifference --- as individuals, as families, as parishes, as jurisdictions?   Is it possible that we have lost touch with the true fronema(mindset) of our Faith, and replaced it with the politically correct, compromising and secular humanistic mindset of our society?

         Beloved Orthodox Christians, is it not the time for all of us to beg our Saviour’s forgiveness for the occasions in which we ourselves have compromised, watered-down – even denied – the sacred Truths of our Faith, in our thoughts, our words, our actions?  Is it the not time to bend the knees of our hearts to the Lord --- entreating Him to raise up martyrs, confessors, and defenders of the Faith, who – like our St. John  – will be His instruments to proclaim and uphold the true doctrine of Holy Orthodoxy --- some of whom may be standing amongst us at this very moment?

         It is the eleventh hour, my dear Brothers ad Sisters in Christ!!  Two generations ago, St. John called upon the Orthodox faithful to become God’s instruments to manifest “the spiritual and moral rebirth of our society.”  Today, his call is now directed to each one of us; and it is even more profound than it was 60 years ago.  Our holy Hierarch, Fr. John, awaits our answer.  What will it be?  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Fr. Demetrious.