Sermon from February 15, 2022
Feast of The Meeting of the Lord
By Fr Nicholas Karipoff
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Today is the Meeting of the Lord. What is this meeting, who’s the meeting with? The Lord meets a couple of old people, an old man and an old woman. His parents, Joseph and Mary, a very modest couple from Bethlehem, come ten kilometres by foot and present the child to Simeon in the temple. It’s a very modest scene. And yet it is a cosmic event, just like the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. How was it described, what did the people see? Not much, and yet at the same time there was the entire glory of the angels open to those who were pure in heart.
I was thinking about our service last night and even this morning. Despite our earthly modesty and poverty, despite how few of us are here in church, our service resonates with heavenly glory. Heaven and earth come together.
Mary and Joseph brought the baby to the temple to honour the Jewish fortieth day dedication of the first-born. This dedication of the first-born was a commandment from God to Moses, for the Israelites to remember at what cost they had been given freedom from the Egyptians. As you know, Pharoah would not let the Israelites go until something awful happened to force him - the first born of the Egyptians perished. Afterwards God commanded to Moses that from then on, all the first born would be dedicated to God, implying that God would have the power of life and death over them.
We Christians are all dedicated to God. This is evident from the service of Baptism and dedication on the fortieth day. This dedication to God is even implied for those people who enter the Church as adults. We belong to God. On this feast day the man Jesus is offered to God, but as God, He gives Himself to us. This humility and love touch us and elicit a response from us, a response of faith, love and trust in His protection. Through our response, cosmic glory will increase in the church. We will be no longer be seen by the world as a small group of “no-hopers”! The church will shine to the world, as it has done in different times and places before and will grow in strength and numbers. We will stop hiding. We will see with our eyes of faith the almighty salvation of God, just as Simeon saw this salvation in infantile vulnerability and infinite humility.
Sermon from Sunday February 13, 2022
Luke 18: 10 – 14 The Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee
by Fr Nicholas Karipoff
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Today the Church begins a three-week preparation for Great Lent, and we’re given this parable, the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee for us to think about life, repentance and transformation.
The Publican and the Pharisee are two different examples of piety. The Pharisee is zealous in doing the things that he talks about, so he’s not all bad! But he’s deluded because even his prayer is not addressed to God, it’s addressed to his ego. It’s easy for us to judge the Pharisee and think I’m not like him, but that’s exactly what the Pharisee said about the Publican! Thank you, God, that I’m not like the rest of the scumbags!
We probably relate to the pharisee more than we realise. We come to church, we pray, we try to fast, and it’s difficult not to feel pleased about ourselves. We have this smug satisfaction that may not be there all the time, but it creeps in. Like the Pharisee we are blind to our own vainglory and pride.
The Publican, on the other hand, finds it easier to repent, because he can easily see his own evil. He’s a traitor to his own people because he collaborates with the Romans. He plunders his own people. So, it’s then easy for him to see his greed, his selfishness and how he hurts people. He understands that life in the big world is merciless in its cruelty. That enables him to understand that mercy can only come from God and from the children of God. He says Lord have mercy, and this prayer of the Publican is the prayer we hear in church more than any other and that has been so for over 2000 years. We read in the New Testament that many of the Pharisees did in fact repent. Just think of the greatest Christian missionary that history has ever known, Saul, who turned into Paul. Many Pharisees turned to Christ and became children of God themselves.
If it’s possible for the Pharisees to transform themselves, then it’s possible for us! We have an advantage over the Old Testament Pharisees because we have the teaching of Christ, just like in today’s parable. This parable is a model which has been put into practice by thousands of New Testament lives of saints from which we can learn. This is something that the Old Testament Pharisees did not have. And more importantly, we have easy access to the healing grace of God within the life of the church. Christ is the greatest of all teachers but, even more, He is our Saviour. It is the grace that comes from Him that saves us.
The Pharisee possesses the letter of the law and yet, fails to understand its spirit. The Publican has the right spirit and walks away more justified because of this, as we hear at the end of the Parable. The Publican learns that the love of God can save us, and this is repeated by many of the Holy Fathers, that just through humility, just through saying, Lord have mercy, even just once in a lifetime and really meaning it, we can be saved. Imagine that! Such is the love of God that He wants everybody to be saved, both the publicans and the pharisees. Let us ponder on the many facets of this very simple parable given for our edification today at the start of our preparatory journey to Great Lent.
Sermon from Saturday, February 12.
The Holy Hierarchs, St Basil, St John and St Gregory.
By Fr Nicholas Karipoff
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Three Hierarchs, St Basil the Great, St Gregory the Theologian and St John Chrysostom, give us an image and example of the correct balance of Church life which is a mysterious way how God enters into the fabric of the world. He does the work; we sometimes think we are the ones doing things, but in fact He is the one who does the work. I understood that perfectly in the process of building up our parish and this church building. Now we face huge challenges trying to retain the parish. This is the work of the adversary over the past two years. Our ranks have been decimated. You can think whatever you like about this virus. Yes, it is physical, but there’s another level of understanding, and I had spoken a lot about this back in 2020.
The Three Hierarchs lived during a period which also had its own big challenges for the survival of the Church. They each experienced great difficulties. We read about how St Basil was visited by the chief police officer of the local governor who was threatening him to fall into line with the governor’s demands. St Basil replied to the policeman, How can you scare me? If you try to take away my possessions, well, I have a few books but not much else. If you exile me, it’s the Lord’s earth. If you kill me, I’ll be with my Christ, so I’ll be happy! The police officer was so impressed with the power and courage of these words from St Basil, that he went back to the governor and said he couldn’t do anything with him.
St Gregory, his friend, was a very meek and modest man, a man who during his entire lifetime never had a falling out with any person. Can you imagine that? He never offended anyone or lost a relationship. Such meekness, such love. He also possessed depth and beauty of understanding of God. Many of the Church services written by people like St John of Damascus, use the poetry of St Gregory. The Paschal service is one example.
St John Chrysostom was a wonderful arch pastor. He was loved so much by the people and at the same time persecuted by the powerful of the world, because he wasn’t interested in pleasing secular society. He didn’t attend parties or gatherings, even though he as archbishop was expected to attend. He didn’t like the spirit of these gatherings. And he could barely eat, because of his zealous fasting in his younger days which destroyed his stomach! St John also spoke very directly about the powerful people of this world and created enemies, including the Empress, who eventually succeeded in getting rid of him. He died in a distant land in the eastern part of the Black Sea in what is now Georgia.
The Three Hierarchs give us as picture of ideal Church life for us, whatever responsibility we carry. We all have responsibilities. If we carried our responsibilities towards Christ as well as they did, the life of the Church and the life of the world would change. The attacks of the unseen adversaries would roll back, and the church would be given some space to develop.
Feast of The Meeting of the Lord
By Fr Nicholas Karipoff
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Today is the Meeting of the Lord. What is this meeting, who’s the meeting with? The Lord meets a couple of old people, an old man and an old woman. His parents, Joseph and Mary, a very modest couple from Bethlehem, come ten kilometres by foot and present the child to Simeon in the temple. It’s a very modest scene. And yet it is a cosmic event, just like the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. How was it described, what did the people see? Not much, and yet at the same time there was the entire glory of the angels open to those who were pure in heart.
I was thinking about our service last night and even this morning. Despite our earthly modesty and poverty, despite how few of us are here in church, our service resonates with heavenly glory. Heaven and earth come together.
Mary and Joseph brought the baby to the temple to honour the Jewish fortieth day dedication of the first-born. This dedication of the first-born was a commandment from God to Moses, for the Israelites to remember at what cost they had been given freedom from the Egyptians. As you know, Pharoah would not let the Israelites go until something awful happened to force him - the first born of the Egyptians perished. Afterwards God commanded to Moses that from then on, all the first born would be dedicated to God, implying that God would have the power of life and death over them.
We Christians are all dedicated to God. This is evident from the service of Baptism and dedication on the fortieth day. This dedication to God is even implied for those people who enter the Church as adults. We belong to God. On this feast day the man Jesus is offered to God, but as God, He gives Himself to us. This humility and love touch us and elicit a response from us, a response of faith, love and trust in His protection. Through our response, cosmic glory will increase in the church. We will be no longer be seen by the world as a small group of “no-hopers”! The church will shine to the world, as it has done in different times and places before and will grow in strength and numbers. We will stop hiding. We will see with our eyes of faith the almighty salvation of God, just as Simeon saw this salvation in infantile vulnerability and infinite humility.
Sermon from Sunday February 13, 2022
Luke 18: 10 – 14 The Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee
by Fr Nicholas Karipoff
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Today the Church begins a three-week preparation for Great Lent, and we’re given this parable, the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee for us to think about life, repentance and transformation.
The Publican and the Pharisee are two different examples of piety. The Pharisee is zealous in doing the things that he talks about, so he’s not all bad! But he’s deluded because even his prayer is not addressed to God, it’s addressed to his ego. It’s easy for us to judge the Pharisee and think I’m not like him, but that’s exactly what the Pharisee said about the Publican! Thank you, God, that I’m not like the rest of the scumbags!
We probably relate to the pharisee more than we realise. We come to church, we pray, we try to fast, and it’s difficult not to feel pleased about ourselves. We have this smug satisfaction that may not be there all the time, but it creeps in. Like the Pharisee we are blind to our own vainglory and pride.
The Publican, on the other hand, finds it easier to repent, because he can easily see his own evil. He’s a traitor to his own people because he collaborates with the Romans. He plunders his own people. So, it’s then easy for him to see his greed, his selfishness and how he hurts people. He understands that life in the big world is merciless in its cruelty. That enables him to understand that mercy can only come from God and from the children of God. He says Lord have mercy, and this prayer of the Publican is the prayer we hear in church more than any other and that has been so for over 2000 years. We read in the New Testament that many of the Pharisees did in fact repent. Just think of the greatest Christian missionary that history has ever known, Saul, who turned into Paul. Many Pharisees turned to Christ and became children of God themselves.
If it’s possible for the Pharisees to transform themselves, then it’s possible for us! We have an advantage over the Old Testament Pharisees because we have the teaching of Christ, just like in today’s parable. This parable is a model which has been put into practice by thousands of New Testament lives of saints from which we can learn. This is something that the Old Testament Pharisees did not have. And more importantly, we have easy access to the healing grace of God within the life of the church. Christ is the greatest of all teachers but, even more, He is our Saviour. It is the grace that comes from Him that saves us.
The Pharisee possesses the letter of the law and yet, fails to understand its spirit. The Publican has the right spirit and walks away more justified because of this, as we hear at the end of the Parable. The Publican learns that the love of God can save us, and this is repeated by many of the Holy Fathers, that just through humility, just through saying, Lord have mercy, even just once in a lifetime and really meaning it, we can be saved. Imagine that! Such is the love of God that He wants everybody to be saved, both the publicans and the pharisees. Let us ponder on the many facets of this very simple parable given for our edification today at the start of our preparatory journey to Great Lent.
Sermon from Saturday, February 12.
The Holy Hierarchs, St Basil, St John and St Gregory.
By Fr Nicholas Karipoff
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The Three Hierarchs, St Basil the Great, St Gregory the Theologian and St John Chrysostom, give us an image and example of the correct balance of Church life which is a mysterious way how God enters into the fabric of the world. He does the work; we sometimes think we are the ones doing things, but in fact He is the one who does the work. I understood that perfectly in the process of building up our parish and this church building. Now we face huge challenges trying to retain the parish. This is the work of the adversary over the past two years. Our ranks have been decimated. You can think whatever you like about this virus. Yes, it is physical, but there’s another level of understanding, and I had spoken a lot about this back in 2020.
The Three Hierarchs lived during a period which also had its own big challenges for the survival of the Church. They each experienced great difficulties. We read about how St Basil was visited by the chief police officer of the local governor who was threatening him to fall into line with the governor’s demands. St Basil replied to the policeman, How can you scare me? If you try to take away my possessions, well, I have a few books but not much else. If you exile me, it’s the Lord’s earth. If you kill me, I’ll be with my Christ, so I’ll be happy! The police officer was so impressed with the power and courage of these words from St Basil, that he went back to the governor and said he couldn’t do anything with him.
St Gregory, his friend, was a very meek and modest man, a man who during his entire lifetime never had a falling out with any person. Can you imagine that? He never offended anyone or lost a relationship. Such meekness, such love. He also possessed depth and beauty of understanding of God. Many of the Church services written by people like St John of Damascus, use the poetry of St Gregory. The Paschal service is one example.
St John Chrysostom was a wonderful arch pastor. He was loved so much by the people and at the same time persecuted by the powerful of the world, because he wasn’t interested in pleasing secular society. He didn’t attend parties or gatherings, even though he as archbishop was expected to attend. He didn’t like the spirit of these gatherings. And he could barely eat, because of his zealous fasting in his younger days which destroyed his stomach! St John also spoke very directly about the powerful people of this world and created enemies, including the Empress, who eventually succeeded in getting rid of him. He died in a distant land in the eastern part of the Black Sea in what is now Georgia.
The Three Hierarchs give us as picture of ideal Church life for us, whatever responsibility we carry. We all have responsibilities. If we carried our responsibilities towards Christ as well as they did, the life of the Church and the life of the world would change. The attacks of the unseen adversaries would roll back, and the church would be given some space to develop.
Between Christmas and Great Lent
The old English Christmas carol talks about “the twelve days of Christmas”. In fact, this is the connecting fabric between the two great feasts of Nativity and Theophany; connected historically, thematically and liturgically, as was said in the January Pokrov leaflet.
Christmas (Nativity) like most great feasts has an after feast of seven days. On the eighth day, the Church celebrates the Gospel event of Christ’s Circumcision, performed according to the law of Moses. For the early Church this feast, like the Nativity before it, spoke of the reality of Christ’s humanity, His flesh given by the Theotokos – the Birthgiver of Lord. On this date, 1/14 January, we also remember St Basil, the great hierarch, theologian and author of the Liturgy celebrated at the time of Christmas, Theophany, Sundays of Great Lent, Thursday and Saturday before Easter.
Theophany – ‘manifestation of God’ – remembers Jesus coming at the age of thirty to Jordan to be announced by the Father and the Holy Spirit as well as the great prophet John the Baptist as the Christ. Christians need to know the meaning of that word. ‘Christ’ is an adaptation of the translation into Greek of the Hebrew word Messiah (lit. ‘Mashiach’). That word, meaning ‘the anointed’ was used to refer to the kings like David and in a special sense to the promised Deliverer (Gen. 3:5; 49:10, etc.) – the King of kings. The Forerunner, who had been preparing Israel for the coming of the Messiah, understood by the Spirit that he was unworthy to baptise the sinless One. However, Christ insisted that it was necessary – to be prepared as the Lamb of God. (According to the Law, sacrificial animals were required to be washed in water before sacrifice). Later, John would tell the people that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God, spoken of by the prophets, especially Isaiah (Ch.53). The Lord reminded the Pharisees of this fact before His passion. This feast is a manifestation in a dual sense: a manifestation of the Holy Trinity in the event of Christ’s baptism and His manifestation as the Messiah-King and the High Priest preparing to offer himself as the Sacrifice of love. The Father proclaims Him as the Beloved Son and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove confirms to John the Baptist (and possibly others at the event) that He is the One that Israel had been waiting for (Jn. 1:33).
Why did the Holy Spirit assume the form of a dove? Here we see the fulfilment of one of the many prototypes or prefigurements of the Old Testament – the connection with the dove of Noah, the dove of peace, signifying the end of the Flood. Christ’s baptism, which enabled water to become the conductor of God’s grace in the mystery of our baptism, is also connected with the story of the Flood and Christs saving passion. St Paul writes in Romans that for us baptism is a participation in the death and resurrection with Christ and enjoins us to be “dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:3-11, read at baptisms). The essence of sin is disconnection from God, absence or lack of love. Humanity cannot reconnect itself to God without Jesus Christ Who is the Vine to which we are grafted in baptism (Jn. 15:1-5). Baptism is the beginning of real life, which is impossible without this reconnection. I was moved by the observation during communion of a young person who had come to Church for the first time: “People here are so close to each other. I have never seen this before”. He was enabled by God to see the life of the Vine. St Vladimir’s ambassadors reported that they did not know whether they were in heaven or on earth during a service in the Great Church of Constantinople. Our challenge is to bring that experience of heaven into our homes, our families.
The Sunday after Theophany gives us the Gospel reading about the beginning of Christ’s mission in Galilee. Like John the Baptist earlier, the Lord says: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). The kingdom of heaven was an expression used by the ancient Jews to refer to the Kingdom of the Messiah, the Christ. For us it refers to the inner reality of the sorrowful and joyous life of the Church: the acquisition of the Holy Spirit in repentance, humility before God and our neighbour. Christ’s words are like the ringing of a bell that calls us to follow Him as He goes from Jordan to the forty day fast in the desert, followed by temptations from Satan. This journey is prepared during the three weeks before Great Lent in which we are given Gospel images for our backpacks to be used on the journey.
Another important event is celebrated during this time before Great Lent: the Meeting of the Lord, one of the twelve great feasts. It follows on from Christmas, Nativity. The Babe is brought to the Temple forty days after His birth to be dedicated to God according to the Law. This meeting historically is with the elderly Simeon who was promised to see “the Lord’s Christ” before he died. Simeon’s life represents the life of each believer as we anticipate the clearing of our spiritual vision in preparation for our life after life.
I have included some Scriptural references here as is customary. I would encourage you to check these references in you Bibles. It is good to have a copy of the Orthodox Study Bible, which is readily available – or other material, which helps with the interpretation of Biblical texts. Also, Orthodox calendars give references to the daily Bible readings. It is a wonderful practice to follow those readings. Visit our library and book kiosk, especially during Great Lent.
Fr Nicholas Karipoff,
Rector
The old English Christmas carol talks about “the twelve days of Christmas”. In fact, this is the connecting fabric between the two great feasts of Nativity and Theophany; connected historically, thematically and liturgically, as was said in the January Pokrov leaflet.
Christmas (Nativity) like most great feasts has an after feast of seven days. On the eighth day, the Church celebrates the Gospel event of Christ’s Circumcision, performed according to the law of Moses. For the early Church this feast, like the Nativity before it, spoke of the reality of Christ’s humanity, His flesh given by the Theotokos – the Birthgiver of Lord. On this date, 1/14 January, we also remember St Basil, the great hierarch, theologian and author of the Liturgy celebrated at the time of Christmas, Theophany, Sundays of Great Lent, Thursday and Saturday before Easter.
Theophany – ‘manifestation of God’ – remembers Jesus coming at the age of thirty to Jordan to be announced by the Father and the Holy Spirit as well as the great prophet John the Baptist as the Christ. Christians need to know the meaning of that word. ‘Christ’ is an adaptation of the translation into Greek of the Hebrew word Messiah (lit. ‘Mashiach’). That word, meaning ‘the anointed’ was used to refer to the kings like David and in a special sense to the promised Deliverer (Gen. 3:5; 49:10, etc.) – the King of kings. The Forerunner, who had been preparing Israel for the coming of the Messiah, understood by the Spirit that he was unworthy to baptise the sinless One. However, Christ insisted that it was necessary – to be prepared as the Lamb of God. (According to the Law, sacrificial animals were required to be washed in water before sacrifice). Later, John would tell the people that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God, spoken of by the prophets, especially Isaiah (Ch.53). The Lord reminded the Pharisees of this fact before His passion. This feast is a manifestation in a dual sense: a manifestation of the Holy Trinity in the event of Christ’s baptism and His manifestation as the Messiah-King and the High Priest preparing to offer himself as the Sacrifice of love. The Father proclaims Him as the Beloved Son and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove confirms to John the Baptist (and possibly others at the event) that He is the One that Israel had been waiting for (Jn. 1:33).
Why did the Holy Spirit assume the form of a dove? Here we see the fulfilment of one of the many prototypes or prefigurements of the Old Testament – the connection with the dove of Noah, the dove of peace, signifying the end of the Flood. Christ’s baptism, which enabled water to become the conductor of God’s grace in the mystery of our baptism, is also connected with the story of the Flood and Christs saving passion. St Paul writes in Romans that for us baptism is a participation in the death and resurrection with Christ and enjoins us to be “dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:3-11, read at baptisms). The essence of sin is disconnection from God, absence or lack of love. Humanity cannot reconnect itself to God without Jesus Christ Who is the Vine to which we are grafted in baptism (Jn. 15:1-5). Baptism is the beginning of real life, which is impossible without this reconnection. I was moved by the observation during communion of a young person who had come to Church for the first time: “People here are so close to each other. I have never seen this before”. He was enabled by God to see the life of the Vine. St Vladimir’s ambassadors reported that they did not know whether they were in heaven or on earth during a service in the Great Church of Constantinople. Our challenge is to bring that experience of heaven into our homes, our families.
The Sunday after Theophany gives us the Gospel reading about the beginning of Christ’s mission in Galilee. Like John the Baptist earlier, the Lord says: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). The kingdom of heaven was an expression used by the ancient Jews to refer to the Kingdom of the Messiah, the Christ. For us it refers to the inner reality of the sorrowful and joyous life of the Church: the acquisition of the Holy Spirit in repentance, humility before God and our neighbour. Christ’s words are like the ringing of a bell that calls us to follow Him as He goes from Jordan to the forty day fast in the desert, followed by temptations from Satan. This journey is prepared during the three weeks before Great Lent in which we are given Gospel images for our backpacks to be used on the journey.
Another important event is celebrated during this time before Great Lent: the Meeting of the Lord, one of the twelve great feasts. It follows on from Christmas, Nativity. The Babe is brought to the Temple forty days after His birth to be dedicated to God according to the Law. This meeting historically is with the elderly Simeon who was promised to see “the Lord’s Christ” before he died. Simeon’s life represents the life of each believer as we anticipate the clearing of our spiritual vision in preparation for our life after life.
I have included some Scriptural references here as is customary. I would encourage you to check these references in you Bibles. It is good to have a copy of the Orthodox Study Bible, which is readily available – or other material, which helps with the interpretation of Biblical texts. Also, Orthodox calendars give references to the daily Bible readings. It is a wonderful practice to follow those readings. Visit our library and book kiosk, especially during Great Lent.
Fr Nicholas Karipoff,
Rector
