Category: Adult Faith Formation

The Jesus Prayer

The Sunday of the Pharisee and Publican is a fitting day for us to familiarize us with the Jesus Prayer. Father Iura spoke of the Jesus Prayer in today’s homily.

The Jesus Prayer
Alice Herro

Prayer, essential to Christian life, is one way we may communicate with God. It is the means by which we experience Jesus. Liturgical prayers conclude with the phrase, “through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” he name, Jesus, is at the heart of faith and prayer. It is through Jesus that heaven’s gates are open. It is in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, that we ultimately return to the Father.

To early Christians, Jesus was not only a belief, but an experienced reality. Early Christians understood the healing, comforting power of the name, Jesus. From this understanding arose one of the earliest Christian prayers, the Jesus Prayer. It is simple, concise and direct, but rooted in the name of our Lord. It is an insistent prayer that can be said anywhere and anytime.

Jesus emptied Himself as His gift to us. Likewise, we return the gifts and empty ourselves as our gift to Him. How do we empty ourselves? How do we achieve this exchange of gifts?

Repeating the Jesus Prayer continuously is one way. With the Jesus Prayer, heart addresses Heart. Thus, the Jesus Prayer establishes communion between your heart and the Heart of Jesus. With practice, the Jesus Prayer will lead you into the Presence of Christ.

How does one pray continuously? A simple breathing technique will help sustain continuous repetition of the prayer:

~Inhale
~Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, (invocation)
~Exhale
~be merciful to me, a sinner. (petition)

Many people recite the Our Father on the crucifix, the Jesus Prayer on all the beads, and the Glory Be on the crucifix. Although the Jesus Prayer is traditionally recited, you may say any prayer, word or group of words. Whatever leads you into the Presence of Christ is correct. Examples beside the Jesus Prayer: + Glory be to the Father, etc.; + Jesus; + My Lord and my God; + Lover of mankind; + Blessed be God (or any of the Divine Praises).

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Resources for the Sunday of the Pharisee and Publican

Sunday, January 24, 2021 is the Sunday of the Pharisee and Publican. Here are the resources for sacred Scripture, Church teaching and reflection, and for the Divine Liturgy.

The reflections on the offering of the gifts (Proskomedia) is quite good as well as the video presentation on the Gospel. Be sure to listen the Resurrectional Troparion.

These resources are offered to you for your formation in the Catholic faith by deepening your appreciation of sacred Scripture and the Liturgy. Let us together pray for the renewal of our parish and Eparchy of Stamford.

Zacchaeus Sunday

”He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’ And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.’” (Lk 19: 1-10)

Zacchaeus, a despised tax-collector, did not feel “entitled” to meet the Lord, let alone receive Him in his house. But he also did not hide in his house, when Jesus was “passing through” Jericho, hoping just to catch a glimpse of the famous teacher from afar. And he didn’t hesitate to scramble up into a tree, to realize this humble ambition. Hence Zacchaeus’s great, life-changing joy at the Lord’s unexpected “Hello,” and politically-incorrect offering of fellowship to him, a despised tax-collector.

Humility does not feel “entitled,” when it comes to fellowship, be it with the Lord Himself, or with others. But humility also does not hide from fellowship in its own “house,” and embraces it joyfully when it is offered. That’s what I’m thinking, as we read this passage about Zacchaeus this upcoming Sunday, one week before the beginning of the “Lenten Triodion.” As Lent approaches, and I might find myself isolated in my “smallness of stature” with respect to the Lord and others in His vicinity, let me venture out of the “house” of my own head, and become a bit more open to Him and others. Let me “come and see,” wherever He happens to be “passing through” my neighborhood, this upcoming Lenten season. Because our Lord is a Lord Who tends to surprise those of us who venture out to catch a glimpse of Him, beyond our humble expectations.

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Online study on the Divine Nature

God With Us Online is offering a free 3 part study on Theosis, deification –an essential point of our Eastern Christian faith. This brief course of study contributes to our ongoing work of Adult Faith Formation.

“God has called his people to become partakers of His Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4). Join us for this three-part series as we explore this process of participating in the Sacramental and moral life of Christ by which each individual and the whole Church are transformed into the mystical body of Christ.”

PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE: A Patristic Study of Deification

Instructor: Father Nathan Symeon

Register at the link above. The course is free.

Wednesdays, January 13 – 27 @ 8 – 9 PM ET

****Look at the link noted above and read the document under the heading of “Resources.”

UPDATE: Here is the video presentation in case you weren’t able to watch the original airing by Father Nathan.

Theophany

“When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan / The worship of the Trinity was revealed, / For the voice of the Father bore witness to You / And called You His beloved Son. / And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, / Confirmed the truthfulness of His word. / O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself / And have enlightened the world, glory to You!” (Byzantine Troparion-hymn of Theophany)

The Lord “reveals” Himself; He appears unto us. That’s what He does, on this great feast of Theo-phany (θεο-φάνεια, Бого-явление, or «appearance/revelation of God»)…. He doesn’t hide Himself from us, but exposes Himself, immersing Himself into, and giving His light and “enlightenment” to, the “waters” of my world in the river Jordan.

Let me not hide myself from Him either, today, but come to Him in honesty, in some heartfelt prayer. Let me respond to His openness to me, and to His readiness to immerse Himself in all the “waters” of my life, opening my heart to His enlightening presence, and letting myself be immersed in it. Thank You, Lord, for sanctifying all our “waters,” however muddy they may be. “You have revealed Yourself and have enlightened the world. Glory to You!”

Sr. Vassa
text of 2019

Forward in Orthodox-Catholic Relations

Here is a very interesting and important conversation among the Orthodox and Eastern Catholics. I’d also include in my descriptors is beautiful. This particular presentation is the first of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute online lecture series addressing issues, obstacles, and ways forward in Orthodox-Catholic relations.

The host is Sr. Vassa Larin of “Coffee with Sr. Vassa.”

The lecture’s participants:

Fr. Cyril Hovorun (Loyola Marymount University)
Fr. Mark Morozowich (Catholic University of America)

 

Resources for Sunday of the Forefathers

Resources for Sunday, December 13, Sunday of the Forefathers

God With Us Online pulls together great liturgical catechetical resources for use in three jurisdictions of the Byzantine Catholic Church (Ruthenian, Ukrainian and Melkite).

You will notice on the link below several things:

1. prayers for the Domestic Church
2. a music file of the Resurrectional Troparion
3. Catechist resources
4. a Gospel reflection given by 2 priests.

There is something for everyone. For example, the December reflection on St. Symeon the New Theologian is brief and helpful.

These resources are given to us to help prepare for the Divine Liturgy on Sunday. By tapping into what is given allows us to enter more deeply in our Catholic Faith and Ukrainian Tradition. Utilize as much as you have time for but something for your relationship with the Lord. These resources from God With Us Online are a particularly good and beautiful way to encounter the Lord in a personal way.

The Sunday of the Forefathers

 

Iconography of the Mother of God presented

Today,May 7, a presentation on the Iconography of the Mother of God was given as part of the Knights of Columbus Museum’s webinar series.

The presenter, Marek Czarnecki, is a well skilled in iconography. He lives in Meriden, CT.

Scholars have classified over 600 distinct prototypes for icons of the Mother of God. How can this multiplicity point to only one source, the first century Miryam of Nazareth? The first Christians responded to her intuitively with the earliest catacomb frescoes. The early church validated her importance with biographical icons narrating her participation in the life of Christ. Icons representing her solely with the Christ child expressed formal Marian dogma, beginning with her title as Mother of God. As Intercessor, her icons catalogued every possible human need. Other icons commemorated the sites of miracles or apparitions, while new prototypes continue to be revealed and painted into the present.