The Liturgy Lived: The Divinization of Man

This article is an excerpt from The Wellspring of Worship (Ignatius Press, 2005) by Fr. Jean Corbon
Source http://fatherdavidbirdosb.blogspot.ca/2010/02/liturgy-lived-divinization-of-man-jean.html

If we consent in prayer to be flooded by the river of life, our entire being will be transformed; we will become trees of life and be increasingly able to produce the fruit of the Spirit: we will love with the very Love that is our God. It is necessary at every moment to insist on this radical consent, this decision of the heart by which our will submits unconditionally to the energy of the Holy Spirit; otherwise we shall remain subject to the illusion created by mere knowledge of God and talk about him and shall in fact remain apart from him in brokenness and death. On the other hand, if we do constantly renew this offering of our sinful hearts, let us not imagine that our New Covenant with Jesus will be a personal encounter pure and simple. The communion into which the Spirit leads us is not limited to a face-to-face encounter between the person of Christ and our own person or to an external conformity of our wills with his. The lived liturgy does indeed begin with this "moral" union, but it goes much further. The Holy Spirit is an anointing, and he seeks to transform all that we are into Christ: body, soul, spirit, heart, flesh, relations with others and the world. If love is to become our life, it is not enough for it to touch the core of our person; it must also impregnate our entire nature.

To Grow in Love

"To grow in love is to try each day to welcome, to be attentive and caring for those with whom we have the greatest difficulty."

+  Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, rev. ed. (New York: Paulist Press, 1989), 40-41.

Jean Vanier on Death and Vulnerability

Jean Vanier on CBC Radio One's "As It Happens" on Thursday 26 May, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.3609214/jean-vanier-founder-of-l-arche-urges-caution-on-doctor-assisted-dying-law-1.3609219

or

https://youtu.be/fzsLEFQuOPw

Transcript:

Introduction:
The deadline is looming, parliament is under pressure to pass legislation governing assisted dying by June 6th. The Supreme Court gave it 16 months to craft the bill, some now say that wasn't enough time to get it right. Even within the liberal party, critics complain the law is too restrictive, it's legally flawed, and to those who still oppose the idea, completely unacceptable.

With the clock ticking loudly, anyone with an opinion is fighting to be heard, and one voice that has been consistently, quietly urging caution belongs to 87 year old Jean Vanier. He is the Canadian founder of the L'Arche foundation, which is a network of communities that supports people with intellectual disabilities. We reached Mr. Vanier in Trosly-Breuil, France.

On Hospitality, Generosity and Giving

"When we love the name of salvation, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and have mercy upon each other, we fulfill all the Law. Through mercy, Abraham was pleased, to host God, and His holy angels.
...When we continue to keep Him, in our inner being, He will make us rich, so we can give to others. We do not ask for, the wealth of this world, but for the salvation of our souls, by calling upon His holy name."

+ Wednesday Watos Psali, Midnight Praises, Coptic Orthodox Church, http://tasbeha.org/hymn_library/view/356 

"I am frightened at the possibility of being condemned. Not because I have robbed, or committed adultery, or done something forbidden, but rather for having failed to care for Christ himself in the person of the poor. Servants of Christ, let us then visit Christ! Let us take care of Christ! Let us feed Christ! Let us welcome Christ...in the person of the poor."

+ St Gregory of Nazianzus

True Love

"True love is love that causes us pain, that hurts, and yet brings us joy. That is why we must pray and ask for the courage to love." + Mother Teresa

The Poor Teach Us

"Is it possible to discover that I am more governed by my fears than by anything else? I don't want to hear the cry of the poor because if I do, I will have to change. And, I will not know what to do. I will feel lost and not know what to do--a feeling of complete inadequacy and powerlessness. And this will reveal to me that I have everything except the essential. I have friends, I have money, power, knowledge; but I do not have the capacity to share, to listen and to love. Not only do I feel helpless but I discover that maybe I'm all wrong, that all my values are upside down. I suddenly discover that I am not so good and, finally, that I am more governed by fear than by anything else. I begin to put my finger on the fear, and out of that culture which told me that I must be the best, I discover that the poor are teaching me that I am poor."

+ Jean Vanier

Going on Mission

"Let us go forth in peace."

+ Dismissal, The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Byzantine Orthodox Rite

"The love of God the Father; the grace of the only-begotten Son, our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ; and the communion and gift of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Go in peace. The peace of the Lord be with you all. Amen"

+ Dismissal, The Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great, Coptic Orthodox Rite

Going on Mission
An excerpt from "With Burning Hearts: A Meditation on the Eucharistic Life"
by Fr Henri Nouwen

Behind It All

“Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our lives. It seems that there is no such thing as a clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness . . . But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one shall take away from us.”

+ Fr Henri nouwen

The Challenge of Paradosis

The following article mentions some interesting criteria for passing on the Faith to the next generation. The anti-Western rhetoric needs to be taken with a grain of salt, especially as it is largely used by popular Orthodox writiers and speakers as a 'catch-all' category for all that is bad. There's also a slight hint of a "sacred vs profane" dichotomy in the writing that might appeal to denominationalism or spiritual nationalism (ie. Orthodox enclaves). 

In spite of these initial concerns, the article does raise facinating areas of focus which Orthodox families and parishes can cultivate, offer and live in prayer, beauty and within the 'ethos' of the Church.

What Orthodox Families Must Do to Keep the Kids Orthodox
by Father Geoffrey Korz
http://www.pravmir.com/what-orthodox-families-must-do-to-keep-the-kids-orthodox/

It is common in Orthodox parishes to find faithful people asking, why aren’t more kids coming to church? It’s an important question, since it raises two deeper issues: firstly, where will the Church in the Western World (outside traditionally Orthodox countries) be in twenty years, and secondly (and perhaps most critically); what on earth have Orthodox families been doing for the last few decades that has resulted in most parishes being almost devoid of young people?

Learning How to Live

LEARN TO LIVE

by Jean Vanier

    I nearly didn't make it. I was in Liberia last night and they said I couldn't get onto the plane. But anyway, I did and, since I've made it, I'm still a little bit filled with Africa which I love very deeply.

    I spent two weeks in a little city called Man in the Ivory Coast working with family couples in the villages, just little, little people. And when I say little people they are people who are sometimes illiterate, very simple in many ways and they have in them an extraordinary beauty. So, if I wanted to share something with you today, I think it would be under the title of "Learning How to Live". For I think this is what Africa has taught me so simply - how to take time to live, and to be still together.

The Song of Eternity

"All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it - tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest - if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the sound itself - you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt you would say "Here at last is the thing I was made for."

+ C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Dealing with each other

"Let us be very sincere in our dealings with each other and have the courage to accept each other as we are. Do not be surprised at or become preoccupied with each other's failure; rather see and find the good in each other, for each one of us is created in the image of God."

+ Mother Teresa

C.S.Lewis: An 'Anonymous Orthodox'? by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware

C.S.Lewis: an 'anonymous Orthodox'?

By Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia

From a talk given to the Oxford C.S. Lewis Society on 29 November 1994, Published in Sobornost, new series 17.2 (1995) , 9-27

'Good sense, good manners, and good Christianity'

In his interesting article on C.S. Lewis and the Orthodox Church, 'Under the Russian cross', Dr Andrew Walker recalls a dinner party in London at which a senior Greek bishop from Constantinople described Lewis as an 'anonymous Orthodox'.¹ Was the Greek bishop right? Certainly, as Andrew Walker observes, Lewis has an enthusiastic following among Orthodox Christians. There are Orthodox bookshops which stock virtually no works by any non-Orthodox author, with one striking exception - C.S. Lewis. I can also think of Orthodox clergy, strictly traditionalist in their outlook, who use Mere Christianity as their main text-book when instructing catechumens.

Letter to a New Convert

"Living Orthodoxy is based on paradox, which is carried on into worship – private or public." 

+ Mother Thekla

Letter to a New Convert

by Mother Thekla

For Love to be Real

"Don't think that for love to be real it needs something extraordinary, all we need is to love tirelessly."

+ Mother Teresa

The Meaning of Sex

The Meaning of Sex
by Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green, at UC-Santa Barbara (sponsored by The Veritas Forum)
http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/frederica/the_meaning_of_sex

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW64sGQypjk

Transcript

Frederica: This is Frederica. Here and Now.

Speaker 1: Welcome to the Veritas Forum. Engaging university students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life.

In the Silence

In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you.