Fr Raphael Vereshack
13-04-2004, 03:25 PM
Christ is Risen! Indeed he is Risen!
"Theology is the word of God, which is apprehended by pure, humble and spiritually regenerated souls, and not the beautiful words of the mind, which are crafted with literary art and expressed by the legal or worldly spirit."
In the thread "Alcoholism & the Eucharist" we have seen to say the least a lively discussion. Considering how strongly many felt about this issue (since it often affected them directly) it was only natural that the question would arise- is it proper to address this issue in this way and especially so close to Pascha? Of course everything has its time & place within our Church life and controversy should not be something one actively seeks. But on the other hand at times there is such a direct attack on the Faith of the Church that one may very well have that responsability to defend the Faith. While the desire to avoid controversy is proper the desire to avoid the Christian struggle is not. After all the common enemy of mankind rages in season & out (how many martyric believers in the Soviet period for instance were deprived of an outwardly peaceful Pascha by hooligans that would accost the services?); the peace we seek can only come from Christ, not from outward circumstances, especially amidst the brokeness of today's world.
Of course the question concerning the Eucharist & alcohol has no easy to arrive at answer. Only in Christ & thru Christian struggle accompanied by humility & love will we ever have the slightest idea of what to do. In other words the answer will flow out of our Christian lives guided by the Holy Spirit. And indeed I believe this is where the discusiion became more controversial & 'fiery'.
To my mind it was not surprising that the question of the Holy Body & Blood and its relationship to the bread & wine would come up. Indeed since the original question directly involved this issue it did need to be discussed to arrive at some sort of correct view. And as part of this endeavour it was only natural that there should be an appeal to the Tradition of the Church & the Holy Frs. Again looked at soberly this only seems proper. However the Holy Frs were being interpreted in diametrically different and even opposed ways and here we began to see something beyond a common discussion concerning how to deal with a serious issue. In effect at this point we could well ask ourselves "how do we read the Holy Frs?"
I have provided the above quote from the Elder Paisios (1924-94) widely regarded as a Spirit-bearing clairvoyant Elder & saint. The reason I have mentioned this is so that we may trust this quote and indeed take it as our way of reading of the Holy Frs. What briefly, does the Elder mean by his words? First he says that theology is 'the word of God', ie. it is not ours to use in whatever manner we feel like. Here we see that faithfulness to the Church, to Christ cannot be seperated from the understanding of what the Holy Frs say. So the Elder then gently teaches us that theology is "apprehended by pure, humble and spiritually regenerated souls."
ie only with the spirit of the Holy Frs and by adopting their way of life will we be enabled to understand their words. This is because indeed their words were & are inspired by the Holy Spirit and only in that Spirit can we understand them. The Elder further explains that theology is "not beautiful words of the mind, which are crafted with literary art and expressed by the legal or worldly spirit." ie, theology is not a work of the mind uninspired by the Holy Spirit for from this sort of mind comes only what is worldly.
What further can we say? We also will only be able to understand what the Holy Frs write & say to the extent that we endeavour to lead a life like them. Anything else and literally every word of ours will carry opposite or no meaning whatsoever. And why is this? Because inevitably selfishness will creep in and then the process of distortion begins. Only a humble & loving heart can uinderstand the Holy Frs.
I will stop here for today but over the next little while God-willing I will add a few more thoughts.
In the love of Christ- Fr Raphael
"Theology is the word of God, which is apprehended by pure, humble and spiritually regenerated souls, and not the beautiful words of the mind, which are crafted with literary art and expressed by the legal or worldly spirit."
In the thread "Alcoholism & the Eucharist" we have seen to say the least a lively discussion. Considering how strongly many felt about this issue (since it often affected them directly) it was only natural that the question would arise- is it proper to address this issue in this way and especially so close to Pascha? Of course everything has its time & place within our Church life and controversy should not be something one actively seeks. But on the other hand at times there is such a direct attack on the Faith of the Church that one may very well have that responsability to defend the Faith. While the desire to avoid controversy is proper the desire to avoid the Christian struggle is not. After all the common enemy of mankind rages in season & out (how many martyric believers in the Soviet period for instance were deprived of an outwardly peaceful Pascha by hooligans that would accost the services?); the peace we seek can only come from Christ, not from outward circumstances, especially amidst the brokeness of today's world.
Of course the question concerning the Eucharist & alcohol has no easy to arrive at answer. Only in Christ & thru Christian struggle accompanied by humility & love will we ever have the slightest idea of what to do. In other words the answer will flow out of our Christian lives guided by the Holy Spirit. And indeed I believe this is where the discusiion became more controversial & 'fiery'.
To my mind it was not surprising that the question of the Holy Body & Blood and its relationship to the bread & wine would come up. Indeed since the original question directly involved this issue it did need to be discussed to arrive at some sort of correct view. And as part of this endeavour it was only natural that there should be an appeal to the Tradition of the Church & the Holy Frs. Again looked at soberly this only seems proper. However the Holy Frs were being interpreted in diametrically different and even opposed ways and here we began to see something beyond a common discussion concerning how to deal with a serious issue. In effect at this point we could well ask ourselves "how do we read the Holy Frs?"
I have provided the above quote from the Elder Paisios (1924-94) widely regarded as a Spirit-bearing clairvoyant Elder & saint. The reason I have mentioned this is so that we may trust this quote and indeed take it as our way of reading of the Holy Frs. What briefly, does the Elder mean by his words? First he says that theology is 'the word of God', ie. it is not ours to use in whatever manner we feel like. Here we see that faithfulness to the Church, to Christ cannot be seperated from the understanding of what the Holy Frs say. So the Elder then gently teaches us that theology is "apprehended by pure, humble and spiritually regenerated souls."
ie only with the spirit of the Holy Frs and by adopting their way of life will we be enabled to understand their words. This is because indeed their words were & are inspired by the Holy Spirit and only in that Spirit can we understand them. The Elder further explains that theology is "not beautiful words of the mind, which are crafted with literary art and expressed by the legal or worldly spirit." ie, theology is not a work of the mind uninspired by the Holy Spirit for from this sort of mind comes only what is worldly.
What further can we say? We also will only be able to understand what the Holy Frs write & say to the extent that we endeavour to lead a life like them. Anything else and literally every word of ours will carry opposite or no meaning whatsoever. And why is this? Because inevitably selfishness will creep in and then the process of distortion begins. Only a humble & loving heart can uinderstand the Holy Frs.
I will stop here for today but over the next little while God-willing I will add a few more thoughts.
In the love of Christ- Fr Raphael