The Gospel

"What is amazing about the gospel is that the Lord makes us free love with no agenda. I love you not so I can feel good about helping you, or because I want you to became Orthodox, or so that you will change and become like me. I can love you just because, you are you. Only this love is worthy of the human heart and is from God. This is what divinization looks like...to love as God loves."

+ Fr. Roberto Ubertino

Knowledge Needs Reality

"Despite 20 years teaching experience I was to discover that the real teacher was not me, but mission life and the poor themselves. Knowledge in and of itself is not enough; it needs to find a reality." 

+ FrDn Pawel Mucha

http://svotssynaxis.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/st-john-the-compassionate-mission-toronto-on/

Reflections of a Reluctant Vigiller

Reflections of a Reluctant Vigiller

I wasn't sure I would want to do it – spending a long evening sitting alone in a dark room – not getting done any of the things I needed to get done, not visiting any of the people I wanted to visit, not having any of the adventures I wanted to have on a Friday night.

7 pm to midnight prayer vigil.

Oh how does the Source of Life pass from death to life?

Oh how does the Source of Life pass from death to life?
by Fr Roberto Ubertino, Aug 15, 2013

http://www.stsilouan.org/sermons/Oh%20how%20does%20the%20Source%20of%20Life%20pass%20from%20death%20to%20life%20Aug%2015,%202013.html

We are standing in one of the most beautiful feast days of the year. There is a very ancient tradition that places a celebration in honor of the Mother of God at this time of the year. It started in Palestine and evolved to this present feast day that we call the Dormition or Falling Asleep of the Mother of God (falling asleep is the Christian term for death.)

Holiness is Wholeness

Holiness is Wholeness
by FrDn Pawel Mucha


In a way that it is difficult for an outsider to imagine, the Mission and the parish are truly interdependent. They are ideally one piece of one woven fabric. To appreciate this, fully, one has to be involved in both the Mission and the parish. To know one without the other is to be unable to see the wholeness that actually exists, the one with the other. The Mission is the foundation upon which the parish is built. The "spirit" of the Mission permeates the "spirit" of the parish. However, it is perhaps no accident that the Mission preceded the parish. Or did it? Worship has been the key to the life of the Mission from its very beginnings. As Fr. Roberto wrote in "The Poor Our Masters", describing the development of the life of St John's:

Orthodox faith, theology and worship should colour and shape Orthodox diaconia. Gradually a pattern of life developed centered around the Divine Services, all-night vigils and vespers services in the chapel that, although only the size of a small room, was in constant use. (http://stsilouan.org/article/poor.html)

In the Mission, and in the parish, the teaching of St. John Chrysostom that the Church should have two tables, one for the Lord and one for the poor, is  realized as a way of life. This is one of the most important lessons that those who come to the Lived Theology School (to learn what Orthodox mission is) have to grow into. It is one of the reasons why Lay Missionaries (formerly interns) have always been fully involved in the life of both the Mission and the Mission parish: and contributed greatly to, and benefited greatly from, both.

As Metropolitan Kallistos so eloquently put it in a retreat talk on the words of the Liturgy, “Let us go forth in peace”:

Let us reflect on what happened at the Last Supper. First there was the Eucharistic meal, where Christ blessed bread and gave it to the disciples, ‘This is my body,’ and he blessed the cup, ‘This is my blood.’ Then, after the Eucharistic meal, Christ kneels and washes the feet of his disciples. The Eucharistic meal and the foot washing are a single mystery. So, we have to apply that to ourselves. We go out from the Liturgy to wash the feet of our fellow humans, literally and symbolically. That is how I understand the words at the end of the Liturgy, ‘Let us go forth in peace.’ Peace is to be something dynamic within this broken world. It’s not just a quality that we experience within the church walls.  

Let’s remind ourselves of the way in which St. John Chrysostom envisages this liturgy after the Liturgy. There are, he says, two altars. There is, in the first place, the altar in church, and towards this altar we show deep reverence. We bow in front of it. We decorate it with silver and gold. We cover it with precious hangings. But, continues St. John, there is another altar, an altar that we encounter every day, on which we can offer sacrifice at any moment. And yet towards this second altar, an altar which God himself has made, we show no reverence at all. We treat it with contempt. We ignore it. And what is this second altar? It is, says St. John Chrysostom, the poor, the suffering, those in need, the homeless, all who are in distress. At any moment, he says, when you go out from the church, there you will see an altar on which you can offer sacrifice, a living altar made by Christ. 

Whilst this quote may appear to be directly relevant to the service of the Mission it actually makes no difference what your situation in life is. The “liturgy after the Liturgy” is to be lived wherever you are and whatever your life consists of. It is equally valid for families, the home, the workplace, social life – for all aspects of your life.

The great blessing of this place is in being able to live a whole Christian life. One would hope that if St. Basil, or St. John Chrysostom, walked in the door of the Mission they would recognize this place as something familiar to them and somewhere where they would find everyone striving to live both the Liturgy (and the other services of the Church) and the liturgy after the Liturgy. As some ancient liturgies have it, “Let us go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord.” There are no limits on either the love or the service. Holiness is realized in a life wholly lived.




From St Silouan Mission Parish, Toronto. Quarterly Newsletter – SPRING 2014 http://stsilouan.org/

What is Faith?

What is Faith?

"Doxa Patri kai Yio ke Aghio Pnevmati. Christ is risen. Faith. Isn't it what it's all about on Thomas Sunday - faith? Now that's not the same thing ... Faith is not the same thing as believing in things, like "I believe in electricity; I don't necessarily understand it, but I believe in it," or "I believe in taxes; I don't particular understand it, but I believe," or "I believe that there was a man on the moon."

That's not what faith is about. It's not about believing things you can’t quite figure out, just close your eyes and "I believe." That's not what faith is.

Beautiful Mini-Documentary on St John the Compassionate Orthodox Mission in Toronto

"The belief here at St John the Compassionate is the belief that each one is important, whatever their situation. A community can't take in everyone but it can become a sign, a sign that in this broken city there's a place where people believe that love is possible." + Jean Vanier

We say: "If you are willing to share your life with us, we will share ours with you. We will encourage you when you mess up, help you find direction when you are not sure which way to go, hold you when you are hurting, and help you discover, strengthen and focus your gifts and abilities. We are here for the long haul." It is not uncommon for people at St. John the Compassionate Mission to tell us, "You are the closest thing that I have to family." http://www.stjohnsmission.org/

"Prayer, people think, is about words, but prayer is entering the silence of one word unceasingly spoken in our hearts - love." + Fr Roberto Ubertino

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7LZEmvdtaw

Crumbs of Bread

Crumbs of Bread
by Fr Roberto Ubertino
http://stsilouan.org/priestmusings/Crumbs%20of%20Bread.html


Each Crumb On The Discos = A Person

Concerning Despondency

"The word accidie means, etymologically, ‘lack of care’, i.e. about one’s salvation. With few exceptions, all humanity is now living in the state of accidie. People have become indifferent about their salvation. They do rot seek divine life. They confine themselves to forms of life which appertain to the flesh, to everyday needs, to the passions of this world, to mundane activities. God, though, created us out of nothing, in the image of the Absolute and after His likeness. If this revelation is true, then the absence of concern for salvation is nothing else than the death of the human person.

Despair is the loss of consciousness that God wants  to give us eternal life. The world is living in despair. People  have condemned themselves to death. We must struggle  resolutely against despondency."

+ Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, Words of Life

In a recent parish retreat, the theme of spiritual despondency was raised, highlighting what Fr Stephen Freeman has discussed as "the most common spiritual malady". What is interesting is that despondency is not mere 'laziness', but rather apathy...or as the speaker of the retreat defined "a lack of care for salvation".

Acedia is caused either by despair or by pride, and both cause the Christian to trust in princes and chariots of our own choosing (or our ideologies or our fallen passions) instead of the constant remembrance of God. The speaker then emphasized the importance of not 'relaxing' but remaining ever watchful.

Perhaps this lesson of watchfulness is but one of the many lessons that are revealed in St Silouan's humbling admonition to "keep thy mind in hell, and despair not!"

May we prepare and enter into Lent heeding the One Who calls to us...calls to Adam saying "where are you?"

May we be like the saints, from Moses, Samuel and Isaiah, to Ananias and all our contemporary saints, married or celibate, who answer with their whole being, their every breath, in all they do, with thanksgiving saying "here I am Lord."

May this coming Lenten journey, remind us to be like the wise virgins with lamps lit, awaiting the Bridegroom. Most Holy Theotokos, pray to God for us. O Holy Fathers, Mothers and Saints, pray to God for us. O Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on us sinners and save us. Grant that we may partake of You more perfectly in the never ending day of Your Kingdom!

Je Nai Nan.

What matters in a Church?

Below is a transcription of a sermon that was given at St Silouan Orthodox Mission Parish in Downtown Toronto on June 10, 2012. Though it was given for the Feast of All Saints (in the Byzantine Orthodox Liturgical Cycle), it is also very applicable to the Holy Feast of Pentecost.

Transcription of June 10, 2012 All Saints Feast Sermon
Fr Roberto Ubertino

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Doubt and Faith

Doubt and Faith Series

by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

http://bit.ly/doubtandfaith

YouTube Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAEAB36D0C61F8115

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75FMmJT7RS0

Orthodoxy and the World

Transcription of "Orthodoxy and the World" 

by Very Reverend Protopresbyter Maxym Lysack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjzcZeQ7U-I
Audio Recorded at St Silouan Orthodox Mission Parish, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Transcript:

...in a kind of systematic way I'm going to speak first about what Orthdodoxy is and speak about what the world is, then talk about living Orthodoxy in the world.