With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae, the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas partnered with the Center for Orthodox Christian Studies at Fordham University and the Sophia Institute to host the ninth edition of the Annual Symposium of Orthodox Spirituality. The Symposium was held on April 16, 2016 on the campus of Fordham School of Law in New York City, and featured the theme, “Youth Religious Education: Wisdom from Christian Tradition for the Contemporary Society.”
Two St. Vladimir's Seminary alumni—Dr. Ann Bezzerides ('00), adjunct assistant professor of Religious Studies at Hellenic College in Brookline, MA, and the Very Reverend Dr. Joseph Purpura ('79), chair of the Department of Youth and Parish Ministries for the Antiochian Archdiocese—were guest speakers, as was the Very Reverend Dr. Chad Hatfield, SVOTS Chancellor/CEO.
Panel discussions were opened by His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae, who emphasized the importance of the Symposium's topic. He noted that youth religious education must be a permanent concern of the Orthodox Church, because our youth represent not only the present, but also the future of the Church. His Eminence also gave thanks to all those who were involved in organizing the meeting.
Father Theodor Damian moderated the panel of notable guest speakers, which in addition to the St. Vladimir's contingent, included: the Very Reverend Dr. John Anthony McGuckin, professor of Byzantine Christian Studies at Columbia University in New York City; Dr. Aristotle Papanikolaou, professor of Theology at Fordham University; Dr. Harold Horell, assistant professor of Religion at Fordham University; Dr. Fevronia Soumakis, a fellow at the Sophia Institute, Columbia University; Dr. Lucian Turcescu, professor of Historical Theology at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec; and Dr. Anton Vrame, adjunct associate professor of Religious Education at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. At the end of the scheduled program, attendees gathered for Vespers.
Recently I ran across an article mulling over the reasons young adults leave the Church. It’s no secret that as a group we Orthodox haven’t done a very good job of keeping our children connected to our Faith. Indeed, attrition estimates among college aged adults range as high as 60%. The article offered a few sensible explanations as to why young people walk out the door of the Church when they walk through the gates of the university, but as I was reading another question, almost the opposite question, formed itself in my mind: why should they stay? What justification can we offer for asking someone to forego sleeping in on Sunday, giving up meat and dairy for about 6 months of the year, abstaining from the premarital sex their friends are enjoying, and all the other “no’s” that seem to crop up when you’re talking about being a Christian? Our young friends aren’t likely to find the answer, “to stay out of hell” or, “to go to heaven” very persuasive for the simple reason that heaven and hell seem very abstract, very far away, and the pleasures of life seem intensely close, tangible. If we are honest many of us would admit that those answers don’t motivate us either. So why should we ask them to stay? Perhaps we should ask ourselves the same question. Why do we bother with the trouble of being Orthodox Christians, accepting the effort and sacrifice that it requires, rather than just enjoying whatever makes us happy?
In his work, On The Apostolic Preaching, St. Irenaeus of Lyon, reflecting on the fall of man, describes Adam and Eve as little children, biological and spiritual babies, in Paradise. As Irenaeus sees it, Adam and Eve were created immature but with the dynamic capacity to grow and become more and more like God, sharing increasingly in the brilliance of His holiness. St. Symeon the New Theologian says that the human spirit was created to be filled with God and that grace was meant to overflow into our very bodies, filling our whole being with the power and glory of God. But Adam and Eve were young and this capacity was not yet developed when they were tricked by the serpent and cast out of the garden. As a result their growth was stunted. Adam and Eve grew up biologically but their spirit withered outside of Paradise and they never became what mature humans are, the meeting point of the created world and the uncreated God, all full of glory. This was the fate of every person before Christ but through His death and resurrection Christ overturned our sad, unfulfilled lot and made it possible once again for us to come alive and share in the boundlessness of the Father’s eternal life. By washing away our sins in baptism, sealing us with the Holy Spirit in chrismation, and filling us with Himself in communion, Christ draws us up again into the life we are made to experience. This provides what I think is the most powerful answer to the question, “why bother with the trouble of being Orthodox?” We bother with fasting, confession, long services, and all the rest because we want to know what it’s like to be fully human. We want to experience the communion with our Creator that fills us with life. We want to enjoy the awake-ness, the intensity of being, that belongs to a creature wholly itself, shot through with the glory of God.
Young people, perhaps all people, need a purpose in life that is worthy of their effort, worthy of their sacrifice and this is it. If you want to know what it’s like to be fully awake and alive in this life, be a Christian. If you want to experience the fullness of the glory of God that humans are made to experience, put God first in your life and pursue him hard. Don’t settle for a merely biological life that will not last. Reach out for a share of God’s divine life that will not end. Through the disciplines of the Church, we can be, if we are willing, transfigured by the grace of the Holy Spirit into fully human persons capable of experiencing God’s brightness and sharing it with a darkened world. When we reach for that grace, we become more and more alive, more our true selves, more capable of bringing healing to the world around us. Fasting, confession, communion, and all the rest are the road to awe; they make us fully alive and restore us to our calling as stewards of all creation. That is a goal worthy of our sacrifice, and it is what makes all of the trouble worth it.
"Sensationalism, headlines, and an obsession with the end of times, with the apocalypse—these are the topics that captivate the heart of man today," says Priest Andre Paez (M.Div. 2013) of St. John the Evangelist Mission in Tempe, Arizona. "We live in a time of fear, in which people suffer from stress, depression, and anxiety, due to the fear of an unknown future, volatile economic markets, political turmoil, global wars, terrorism, and more. We are faced and surrounded with a seemingly ever increasing darkness. Yet, in the midst of this darkness and shadow of death, there is hope, as Jesus Christ has been victoriously shining forth since the day of His glorious resurrection."
Saint John’s was planted in February 2005 to bring Orthodox Christianity to Tempe, home to one of the largest state universities in the United States. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the community today has grown to embrace some 80 faithful and a steady stream of enquirers from a variety of backgrounds, religious and ethnic. About half of the faithful are converts to the faith. The parish strives to maintain a multi-generational, “kid-friendly,” and welcoming atmosphere that fosters fellowship, while it promotes discipleship by encouraging the faithful to recognize—and use—their spiritual gifts for “the building up of the Body of Christ," says Fr. Andre.
“Above all, we strive to manifest the love of God in ourselves, first to our family members, then to our friends, co-workers, and neighbors, to transform lives by being a holy place where people can experience the forgiveness and love of God through the services and sacraments, educational classes, and community outreach ministries,” Fr. Andre adds. “Saint John uses the Greek term apokalypsis in his book of Revelation not to refer to the destruction of the world, but rather to the manifestation of Christ Himself. The apokalypsis truly is now, as our Lord reveals in John 16:33 when He says, 'These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’”
On Saturday, February 20, 2016, seminary alumnus Deacon Joseph (Tristan) Gall was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by the hand of His Eminence the Most Reverend Nikon (Liolin), archbishop of Boston, New England, and the Albanian Archdiocese. The ordination took place during a hierarchical Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Pittsfield, MA, where Father Joseph is now assigned to serve as priest of the parish.
Father Joseph (Master of Divinity, ’15) hails from Erie, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Crossingville. He earned a Bachelor of Arts, a teaching credential, and a Masters in Education, all from Edinboro University. Before attending seminary, he worked as a first-grade teacher. His wife, Mary, is a doctoral student of Ancient Christianity at Yale University.
Concelebrating at the Divine Liturgy were several St. Vladimir’s Seminary alumni who serve as rectors in parishes within the New England Diocese, including: Archpriests John Kreta, David Koles, Michael Westerberg, Steven Belonick, Vladimir Aleandro, and Dennis Rhodes, and Priest Michael Korolev. In attendance from St. Vladimir’s Seminary were Priest David Mezynski, associate dean for Student Affairs, and Hierodeacon Father Herman (Majkrzak), lecturer in Liturgical Music.
Also in attendance to offer prayers and encouragement were Archpriest Athanasius Farag, father of Matushka Mary and a St. Vladimir’s Seminary alumnus, and Priest Bishoy Lamie Mikhail, brother-in-law of Matushka Mary. Both Fathers Athanasius and Bishoy are priests within the Coptic Orthodox Church, and serve at St. Antonious and St. Mina Church, East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Of special significance was the participation in the service by another seminary alumnus, Archpriest Dennis Hendershot, who was Father Joseph’s parish priest in PA, as he was growing up. At a special reception following the Divine Liturgy, Father Joseph acknowledged that his desire to become a priest had been sparked and influenced by his observation of Father Dennis, as a model to emulate. Further, Father Joseph emphasized his overwhelming gratitude for the encouragement and love of family and friends, and his new parish family, as he begins his new ministry.
On Sunday, January 10, 2016, Beryl Knudsen (M.Div. 2014) was commissioned by the Orthodox Church in America as a hospital chaplain, by Fr. John Eissman at Ss. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Bethel, CT. The service is part of the endorsement process for lay chaplains in the Orthodox Church. Chaplain Beryl is assigned to Danbury Hospital, where she trained as a chaplain and where she has held a 24-hour-a-week staff position since October 2014. As part of a team of chaplains who respond to emergencies, Beryl visits the non-Catholic patients requesting spiritual care, and provides pastoral care for both the families of patients and for hospital staff.
As a member of the Palliative Care Team, Beryl assesses and ministers to patients with life limiting illnesses; some are in the early stages of their diseases, and some are approaching their final hours. Once a week she runs a group on the psychiatric inpatient unit on topics such as prayer, peace, forgiveness and healing.
I started attending St. Vladimir's in my mid-fifties when my youngest child was ten years old. As we explored my goals, the counselor I was seeing told me I was too old to start a new career, but God had other ideas! A few years later my love of learning brought me to St. Vladimir’s and, while a student at SVOTS, the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) field assignment led me to a career as a chaplain.
My job is very demanding on all levels; at the same time it is remarkably rewarding. There is tremendous diversity within my day (often within an hour!). One minute I might be offering comfort to an elderly person who is frightened and all alone, the next might find me talking with a nurse or aide who wants prayer for a sick relative. Many patients I visit need help coping with a new diagnosis or end-of-life decisions. Some visits are longer, such as those with patients who are looking back over their lives and want to share their struggles, victories, and accomplishments, as well as the joys or disappointments in their relationships. These visits take time.
Of course there are some patients who also want to talk about their faith or loss of faith, their anger at God, their questions about life after death, the miracles they experienced that confirmed them in their faith or about their desire to do God’s will. I also have patients who cannot speak but are able to radiate their love of Christ. Those visits are like precious jewels.
Often I find that patients and families have losses they need to talk about. Grief tends to surface during a hospital stay. All that I learned from Dr. Al Rossi ‘s classes, seminars, and counseling, has been extremely helpful. Most of my work consists of listening and being present for the person as a witness of Christ’s love. Regularly I hear in my ear Dr. Rossi saying “Listening is love, delivered.” This month I will train as a Grief Recovery Specialist, which will give me additional listening tools.
While taking homiletics classes with Fr. Sergius Halvorsen, I was very frustrated because he and my classmates could not hear my voice when I delivered my practice sermons. I am not a quiet person but I am small, and my voice doesn’t project very well. Father Sergius, knowing I was training as a chaplain, noted to the class that I had an excellent bedside voice, appropriate for my calling. In retrospect, I see he hit the nail on the head. I am a quiet presence at the patient’s bedside, and that’s as it should be. I still give an occasional sermon, though—with a microphone!
Christianity is peculiar, there’s no doubt about that. We serve the crucified and risen Christ, who revealed Himself as God in the way that He died. Instead of self-fulfillment Christ offers us self-sacrifice; instead of power he offers us a cross. As Holy Week expertly teaches: we must go through the cross to get to the resurrection; there is no empty tomb without Golgotha. We learn that with God our expectations often go unmet, yet if we have patience, his plan transcends our expectations. The Jewish religious leaders of Christ’s day, and many of his own followers, did not grasp this concept. They wanted military triumph over the Romans and instead were offered a kingdom not of this world. They were so bent on victory in this life that they unwittingly rejected victory over sin and death.
I was thinking of these things as the Church celebrated the Sunday of St. Thomas, because a mere week after we share in the great Paschal triumph we are immediately confronted with the question of doubt. Courtesy of St. Thomas, our own doubts about Christ’s resurrection are brought to the forefront. But something different and altogether new sprang to my mind as I listened to the juxtaposition of the Epistle and Gospel readings. I found an entirely new way of thinking about the nature of doubt and the role it plays in our lives.
In the Epistle we are presented with the early days of the apostolic ministry and we are able to see the disciples, especially Peter, anew. They are boldly proclaiming Christ with little care of the consequences. It is even said that the sick were carried out on pallets that “as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.” It was only a little over a week ago, during the Gospel readings of Holy Thursday, that we saw Peter, weak of will and overcome with cowardice, deny Christ three times. Yet here he is, so infused with the grace of the Holy Spirit that people crave a brief encounter with him. The Sadducees are so overcome with jealousy at this development that they throw the apostles in prison, yet again rejecting the work of God within their midst. Even this doesn’t dissuade the apostles from their work. They are set free from prison by an angel of the Lord, only to be charged: “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”
How powerfully this speaks to our own fears and doubts. It’s as if we instinctively want to turn victory into defeat. It’s one thing to believe in the reality of the crucified and risen Lord and quite another to act on that belief. And yet here we have a powerful testament to God’s ability to transform our doubts and us with them. We are often like Peter in the Gospels, unable to see God’s hand in the chaos and tragedy around us, so ready to give in to fear and doubt. We are more like the Jewish leaders than we give ourselves credit for, too…ready to abandon Christ when God’s plan doesn’t conform to our expectations. We forget that God is more than the God of triumph; he is also the God of transformation. To truly reflect Christ, we must take up our cross. We must also see our doubts about God’s ability to work in the trials and tragedies of our lives for the imposters they are. When St. Peter stood between Christ and the cross, Christ admonished him saying, “Get behind me, Satan.” Similarly, we must not let our doubts get between us and the cross. For God’s grace to transform us, we must fight through our doubts, knowing that the cross always comes before the empty tomb. It isn’t the doubts that count, it’s our reaction to them. God is always waiting to transform us the way he transformed St. Peter.
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Fr. John Ballard (SVOTS ’10) is the assistant priest at St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in North Royalton, Ohio. He currently lives in Cleveland with his wife, Rebecca, who is a neonatology fellow at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. They have one child named Max and are expecting their second child at the end of May.
Father Aaron Warwick's reflections about Dr. Nicolae G. Roddy, Alumnus, ’89, M.A., were originally published in the 2014 Annual Report, "The Far Reach of St. Vladimir's Seminary." Dr. Roddy is the Associate Professor of the Hebrew Bible in the Department of Theology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
A “living Bible”…that’s how I think of Dr. Nicolae Roddy. Initially, he was my professor at Creighton University, but he now has become my mentor and friend as well.
As a naïve teenager, I left home for college in 1999 with a general idea of how my life would unfold. Much to my surprise, it turned out quite differently, and one important person who helped me navigate the detours was Dr. Roddy.
During my first semester at Creighton, Dr. Roddy taught a required course entitled “Christianity in Context.” He was the first Orthodox Christian I’d ever met, and his “orthodox” perspective and approach intrigued me. I first attended an Orthodox Christian parish with him, and with his help, established an OCF (Orthodox Christian Fellowship) chapter at Creighton.
I took another course offered by Dr. Roddy, this time on the Old Testament, which really challenged my thinking. I, with other students, struggled re-reading through texts that seemed so different now than from when we had heard them in Sunday School. I appreciated Dr. Roddy’s willingness to stick around after class to help us students. His care for students and love of the Bible helped him to dialogue with us and transmit his wisdom to us—as very few professors were able to do. Most importantly, he was able to integrate his deep knowledge of biblical texts into 21st-century living.
Our relationship grew over 15 years, and in 2012, Dr. Roddy came to speak at my parish about the Bible and archaeology. Spurred on by that retreat, some parishioners and I accompanied him on an archaeological dig this past summer to Bethsaida. What I noted most was that although Dr. Roddy is an esteemed scholar and archaeologist, he continues to learn and to assimilate his education into his daily life.
In Dr. Roddy I see someone who humbles himself before God, realizes and embraces his unworthiness, and yet, thankful for God’s mercy, strives to show the world the likeness of God to which we all are called. He has imparted to me not just knowledge of biblical texts, but has provided me with an example of a living witness of biblical tradition, a “living Bible” in action.
Katrina Bitar (SVOTS '09) is the North America Program Director for YES, or Youth Equipped to Serve. A ministry of FOCUS North America, YES provides opportunities for junior high and high school students to participate in formative weekends of service in urban environments across the U.S. and Canada.
A lifetime member of the Antiochian Archdiocese, Katrina began working with youth during her college years and eventually was tapped to head the YES program after graduating from St. Vladimir's Seminary in 2009. A look at her busy calendar for the first half of 2016 reveals that she will be involved with outreach efforts in Los Angeles, Boston, Austin, Montreal, Newark, Kansas City, Grand Rapids, Portland, and Philadelphia. (Note: This interview was first published in Antiochian.org.)
What is your background, and how did you first get involved with YES?
I was born in Burbank, California, but spent most of my life in Little Falls, NJ. I discovered my youth ministry gifts while serving at the Antiochian Village as a counselor during my college years. In 2001, I took a job as a youth director for a parish in Phoenix, AZ that began my full-time youth ministry work. It was through my work as a parish youth director that I was introduced to the YES Program. I brought some of my young people on the first YES trip in January of 2004, and the rest is history. I began traveling with my teens to cities all over the country to participate in the program, and eventually began leading trips on a part time basis. After I graduated from St. Vladimir's Seminary in 2009, I was asked to direct the program.
Tell us a bit about YES. Whom do you serve, and what is your main emphasis?
The YES Program provides opportunities for junior high, high school, and college students to participate in formative weekends of service that aim to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and bring youth to an awareness of Christ in themselves and others. Through this experience, we aim to identify and cultivate leadership gifts in trip participants, with the ultimate purpose being to raise up service leaders who will lead others in loving and serving our most needy neighbors in their own communities and on future YES trips.
We spend the majority of our time building community with the people on our trips. We visit homeless ministries, family shelters, after school programs, nursing homes, and spend time with individuals that live on the streets. We also aim to break the mold of what poverty is by sharing fellowship and love with all the people we encounter of all economic levels.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
We hope that the students that experience a YES trip come to a real awareness of who God has created them to be and enter into a life of selfless love for the sake of others. Seeing these young people come to know Christ and their place in the world is inspiring for me and exciting for both them and the communities they are a part of. It is so important for them to see that they are a valuable part of the Lord's workmanship. Their openness to see the Lord in all people is also the fruit of the encounters they have during trips with people that are homeless, children in shelters, and elderly in nursing homes. Our prayer is that they come to know Christ in themselves and serve Him in every person they come in contact with, whether it be their parents or a stranger. Their enthusiasm to love and serve the world is my joy.
If you could communicate one thing to fellow Orthodox Christians about the homeless and poor in our communities, what would it be?
The homeless and working poor communities across the nation are similar in that they are incredibly open to others and have a deep desire for God and connection with people. Most of our ideas of the average person that is homeless are transformed by stretching outside of what is comfortable for us and meeting them where they are. The average age of a homeless person is nine, which speaks volumes. The greatest cause for homelessness in America is simply lack of affordable housing, and most Americans are just two paychecks away from being homeless.
We are all one community of people, impoverished in our own ways. We all experience joy and pain. We always aim focus on the person, not their circumstances. Our concern is for the person, so we aim to build relationships and discover their needs, not assume we know what they are. The Church is called to be for the world, so as members of one Body, we must take the Church to the streets and say to those who are strangers to us, we are one. Building community and recognizing Christ in the other is our approach. It is never us and them, but we.
What feedback do you get from the young people you work with?
Here are a couple testimonies from students that have participated in YES Trips:
"When attending my first YES trip, I was amazed by both the personal and spiritual growth I experienced. As a teenager in a world consumed by materialism and selfish wants, I found it refreshing to spend a weekend de-emphasizing my personal desires and focusing on the needs and wants of those around me. Being able to put other people's desires above my own allowed me to experience a happiness that only could be provided through God's work. My spiritual life was enriched in that throughout the experience I was able to see God's beauty in everything. The people I encountered while serving had such a love for life and God's simple gifts. My heart was opened and changed while serving the community and I have never felt so much love before. YES is a beautiful organization and I believe it is something that everybody should have the honor to experience." - Zan Bojrab
"YES, to me, is about courage. It is about facing the fear of looking someone in the eye and truly wanting to know that person. It is about having the courage to know others and accepting them for everything they embody – their flaws, their struggles, their hopes, and their dreams. It is about having the courage to see yourself for who you are. My experience with YES has taught me that relationships are about more than acceptance of people, but about the courage to honestly and openly see a person with new eyes...no preconceived notions, and, regardless of who they are, to love them for their humanity." - Panayiotis Constantine
Where would you like to see YES go as an organization, in the next five years?
The hope is to have trained leaders all over the country leading trips in different regions. We also hope to create trips for families, college students, and young adults. We are having our first family trip on February 7th. We currently have 33 students that have gone through our annual Leadership Training, and they are assisting with planning and leading trips. God willing, with time and experience, they will soon be leading YES trips and our other college campus initiatives. Our service-learning process and service leadership training is available to all of our Orthodox church communities nationwide.
Every year, the services of Holy Week bring before us selections from the Old Testament, of Jacob, of Joseph and his brothers, the great prophets Moses and Job. We hear the ancient prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah with an awareness that everything that has happened before, everything that has been spoken, reaches its fulfillment in our Lord’s passion. During the services, the Gospel passages recount Christ’s final teachings to his disciples, as well as the events that lead to his Passion. As the week moves on, the pace quickens as our Savior hastens to the events that are so familiar to us: the dinner, the trial, the scourging, the haggard procession with the cross, and the brutal crucifixion itself. The Church speaks of an end, but now as the end of this week draws near, we must also speak of the beginning, and understand both what is old and coming to an end, and also what is new and coming to life.
All around us outside, the natural world proclaims this pattern: the sun casts more light upon the earth than night’s darkness. As the prophet says, “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come.” (Song of Solomon 2.11-12) The Hebrews even reckoned the annual commemoration of the date of Pascha according to this natural order: “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the Lord’s Pascha.” (Lev 23.5-6)
Commenting on the Lord’s Pascha, some Church fathers seized on this idea of annual re-creation and used images from it to describe this liturgical season of the death and resurrection of Christ. Many noted that this was even the traditional time of the original creation of the World; it was a natural transition to see Holy Week and our Lord’s death and resurrection as a recapitulation of that original creation. The new creation begins on Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday when our Lord once again separates light from darkness as he calls forth the dead to life. And as the great King and true light of the world, meekly bearing salvation, he enters into his city, Jerusalem, with great acclamation. This great light increases even more as his death, burial, and resurrection draw near. In the face of the brilliant light of our Lord’s passion, the two lights of creation, the sun and the moon, diminish and no longer illumine the world alone. The week goes on, and on this holiest of all Fridays, our God fashions man anew, as his Christ is crucified. From the side of this new Adam will not come a rib, but blood and water, by which he establishes and nourishes the Church. After this will be the Great and Holy Sabbath, the last day of the old creation; God will rest again. And on the next day, the eighth day, the first day of the new Creation, the man of the earth, once bound by death, will be freed in the life of Christ Jesus. There will be a new Creation, peopled by those who have been formed by his word, nourished on the food of his body, and illumined by the light of his power.
Here, on this fifth day, on this Holy Thursday, our attention is drawn to numerous themes – the mystical supper, the scheming of the elders, the treachery of Judas. But let us stop and consider only one event of this day, the washing of the feet. For here again on this fifth day, the waters splash as they did on the original fifth day, not with every sort of sea creature, but with our Savior calling forth a new way of life for his new creation. With the knowledge “that the Father had given all things into his hands,” (Jn. 13.3) the eternal Word of God stoops down and humbly puts his hands in the basin of water to wash his disciples’ feet. By this humble act, as he washes away the filth and grime from feet that trod upon the dusty paths of Palestine and the alleys of Jerusalem, he will create new winged creatures, as man will soar to the heavenly heights of virtue and will keep company with the angels in the presence of God the Father, with his Son, in the Holy Spirit.
The hymnography of Holy Thursday speaks of the washing of the feet as the time “when the disciples were illumined.” Illumination is, of course, also the way the Church speaks of the mystery of Holy Baptism. The Church can use this term for both the washing of the feet and Holy Baptism, because the results are the same: we put on Christ, who is our Teacher and Lord, and strive to be all that he is, by doing what he has commanded. He says as much plainly: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” (Jn 13.14-15) This is how the heavenly heights are opened for us: we will ascend to the heavens when we understand what he did to his disciples and for us, and when we follow his command to “wash one another’s feet.”
We should make no mistake; “foot washing” is not an easy task even now, in our world with all the benefits of modern hygiene. The extent of our Lord’s love for us can be seen precisely in this, as he takes the filthy, dirty feet of his disciples and washes them clean. The dirt and grime are precisely what makes this act so beautiful. In that soiled water, our Lord has called forth new life, a life purified and clean. He has called forth life that proclaims power in weakness, the triumph of humility and service, the victory of love, and the death of selfishness. Out of these waters, just like the waters of baptism, he has not called us to be proud or powerful. He has not empowered us to be self-centered or self-interested. He has not challenged us to become successful men or women by the standards of the world. No, he has called us to emulate him. If we have called him our Lord and King at our baptism, we ought to “wash one another’s feet,” just as our Lord and Teacher has done.
On this day, we are given a vision of God’s new creation. For all of us who live in this new creation, “washing one another’s feet” means giving ourselves to one another in all love, humility, and service. The new creation is to be populated by those who are willing to beautifully debase themselves and wash the feet of their brothers and sisters, to offer themselves, to humble themselves, to give entirely of themselves, not being concerned by position, status, authority, pride, pomp, or any consideration other than loving their brother and sister the way the Lord has loved them and in exactly the same fashion.
Fathers, brothers, and sisters, as we stand now at the foot of the steps, ready to ascend to the upper chamber and, as companions of our Lord, to partake of the Divine Word, let us commit ourselves once more to this same Lord, who is going to his voluntary passion for us and for our salvation, to inaugurate a new creation. Let us pray therefore that by emulating in him in our words, deeds, and thoughts, we may find ourselves in that chamber with him and with all those who have been well pleasing to him from all the ages. Amen.
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Archpriest Alexander Rentel (SVOTS ’95) is Assistant Profess or of Canon Law and Byzantine Studies and the John and Paraskeva Skvir Lecturer in Practical Theology. Fr Alexander finished his doctoral dissertation under the direction of Fr Robert Taft, SJ, at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome in January 2004. Prior to coming to St Vladimir’s as a professor, Fr Alexander was a 2000-2001 Junior Fellow in Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. He has taken numerous research trips to Greece, Italy, and France. He was ordained to the priesthood in July 2001. He and his wife, Nancy (née Homyak, SVOTS ’95) are the proud parents of three children, Dimitrios, Maria, and Daniel.
“Great are you, O Lord, and marvelous are your works, and there is no word which suffices to hymn your wonders!”
These words, which come from the blessing of water at the baptismal service and at the water blessing on Theophany, are probably not the first words that come to mind now, at the midpoint of Holy Week. (The matins of Holy Thursday, a rich and beautiful service, is usually celebrated on the evening of Holy Wednesday. In many parishes in North America, however, the Service of Anointing is celebrated at that time, and the matins service is omitted.) This is hardly a time for celebration.
We are now at the point in Holy Week when things go from bad to worse. The shouts of “Hosanna” have long faded, and the crowds will soon be yelling “Crucify him! Crucify him!” The religious authorities, threatened by Jesus’ popularity and his assaults on their traditions, are plotting to kill him. The civil authorities have their own agendas, focused on maintaining their positions of power and preserving the pax Romana. Judas, one of the Twelve, is laying his own plans to betray the Master even as he eats and drinks at the Last Supper with the Lord and the other disciples. And immediately after the supper, the disciples begin to argue among themselves about which of them is the greatest. Soon, the disciples will abandon him as he undergoes the passion. Peter will deny him three times, and all the apostles will scatter after Jesus’ arrest. Only a few women remain faithful as they accompany him at his crucifixion, and later as they come to anoint his dead body—and for this reason they become the first witnesses to the resurrection.
No one knows or comprehends the cosmic events that are taking place. The world at large is completely oblivious, and the story of Jesus leaves almost no mark on the official historical records of the day. The Jewish nation rejects the Messiah as, at best, another prophet who met a sad end—he was certainly not the triumphant, worldly king they were expecting. Jesus’ followers, bewildered and confused, give up. Even the women who remain faithful do so not because they understand the significance of what is happening, but because of the personal love they feel for him.
And what about us, who gather together some two thousand years later to remember these events? As the texts of the Holy Week services make abundantly clear, we are just like those weak, sinful individuals portrayed in the scripture readings and in the hymnography. Indeed, it is to us that these texts are addressed. We are just like those crowds that yell “Hosanna” one day, and a few days later crucify our Lord. We do this whenever we despise or ignore our neighbor, who is the living image of Christ. We do this when, like the Pharisees, we concern ourselves more with the externals of the faith than with the law of love. We do this when, like Judas, we value the thirty pieces of silver more than the gift of eternal life.
For the Holy Week liturgical cycle functions as one big parable: a story that first draws us in, and then pulls the rug out from under us as it reveals the weakness of all our own arguments, our own rationalizations. We think that it is the Jews who are responsible for crucifying Christ—and at one time people calling themselves Orthodox Christians would launch pogroms against Jews on these days. We may even consider that some of the Holy Thursday and Holy Friday texts are anti-Semitic, and we fail to realize that they are actually speaking about us. For it is by our own sins and actions that we crucify Christ. It is we who stand condemned.
These Holy Week services thus paint a dark picture of the fallen world in which we live. This is a world in which darkness reigns, where individuals and nations commit the vilest atrocities and genocides. Modernity, despite bring much improvement of the lives of so many people, has also made the extermination of entire peoples ever more efficient and impersonal. Our cities are full of suffering and crime, and that in the richest nation on this earth. And in many parts of the world, conditions are far worse.
In short, these services unmask the reality of this world, a reality we try so hard to conceal even from ourselves. Like the emperor in the familiar fairy tale, we are revealed as having no clothes. Or, in the language of the exaposteilarion that we sing at the matins services from Monday to Thursday of this week, we have no “wedding garment” to enter into the bridal chamber.
Yet it is only when we become aware of this absolute emptiness that we can begin to understand why it was necessary for Christ to come into the world in order to overcome this darkness. We begin to see this now, as Christ first washes the feet of his disciples, then offers his Body and Blood to us in anticipation of his own death on the Cross for our sake. He, and He alone, is under no delusion. He alone sees this fallen world for what it is—a world that rejects its Maker. And yet, as we hear in John’s Gospel, God so loved the world that he sent his only-begotten Son, who, by his presence among us, fills the darkness with light. The One who created the world never stops loving his creation, even when that creation does not return his love and chases after idols.
Later today, as we celebrate the Eucharistic liturgy of Holy Thursday, we shall sing “One is holy, one is the Lord, Jesus Christ.” As we do this, we confess not only that he alone is holy, but also that we, because of our sins, are not. Yet we do this with the certainty that through him, we too become holy, not because of anything that we do or have done, but because he freely bestows his holiness on us. We become holy when, at our baptism and chrismation, we are clothed with the “robe of righteousness.” And we reaffirm this each time that we approach the chalice.
The garment that we lack is provided to us freely by the Master. At the time of Christ, the host would provide a wedding garment to all the guests he invited. They did not have to purchase or earn it for themselves. So, in the familiar parable about the wedding feast, the man who comes without the proper attire does so only because he has rejected the free gift of the garment from the Master (Matt 22:11-13).
Our calling today, as we prepare for the liturgy of Holy Thursday, is not to reject that gift, that festal, baptismal garment, but to accept it with gratitude, knowing full well that we do not deserve it. It is for this that Christ comes to us, and why he accepts to suffer and to die on our behalf. This, even more than the many miracles that Jesus performed during his sojourn among us, is the greatest wonder of all.
“Great are you, O Lord, and marvelous are your works, and there is no word which suffices to hymn your wonders!”
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Dr. Paul Meyendorff (SVOTS ’75) is a leading specialist in the history, theology, and practice of the Orthodox liturgy and is The Father Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology at St. Vladimir’s Seminary.
