Seek practical relevance of theology

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So we have to approach theology , and especially Orthodox theology , with the question of what is the practical relevance of what we have learned for our lives ? Because you will give to others out of the abundance of what you have . That's normal . So I would ask that question .

Apologia pro opera sua

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I think I'm here to help you to make a connection with the tradition of the church , meaning with the saints of the church , because in God's unfathomable mercy , in God's unfathomable mercy , I have grown up near one of the great spiritual personalities of our times . That , I think , is what the Lord wants me to share with you most . And so it's not even on the level of studying this or that , examining this or that question , but it's more of a communion , because it's not that Starrett Sofroni is the only saint , he's the one that I knew best .

Great Fathers initiate us into Church Tradition

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And what great spiritual figures do for us , whether it's St Gregory Palamas , whether it's St John of the Ladder , a Porphyrios , a Silouan , they give you that connection with the whole , they give you a way in , because no one father can be the tradition it's a contradiction in terms but they are able to bring you into contact with the whole , and that's the wonderful thing about the communion that is seen and experienced through the saints of the Church .

Becoming an organic part of a tradition

Speaker 1 2:09

So in a sense , we've used references to philosophy , references to other disciplines , tried to present a patristic vision of things inspired by this relationship , by this relationship and that , in a mystical way I've come to realize , makes you , if you want to , you can always reject anything that God offers , but it makes you , if you want to be part of that tradition , be an organic part of that tradition . And one thing I've learned which has humbled me in certain ways , significant ways , is that time and space is certainly not a mitigating factor . You can become more a disciple of , or a communicant of the spirit of a Porphyrios , a Paisios , a Sophrony and so on , than those who are physically and historically closest to them , because the spiritual transcends all of those limitations , because the spiritual transcends all of those limitations . And it's very important for us , I think , to be in that communion , feeding off that communion , if we're going to survive as Christians in the world today , where it's becoming increasingly difficult Not that it was ever easy , but the noose is distracted even more and more by the technological means we have at our disposal .

Speaker 1 3:54

I've noticed that the concentration span is less . It's how society has evolved . And to listen , and to listen in a concentrated way for sustained periods of time . It's not easy . It requires energy , great effort and I myself , to focus on a lecture , let's say a high intellectual level lecture , for an hour is not as easy as it used to be . I was practiced in that and that's something that I used to do quite comfortably , but it's no longer as easy .

Speaker 1 4:40

And so , if that's the case

St. Sophrony’s “ratio of energy”

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remembering , if you recall , I told you once that Father Sofroni used to make a kind of ratio to help people understand the difference between the energy needed for manual labor , the energy needed for intellectual work , and the energy needed for intense prayer . I say intense because that's what he means when he says prayer . He divided it up into seven is to three is to one . So one hour of prayer is equal to three hours of intense , really concentrated intellectual work , which is equal to seven hours of physical labor , hard physical labor , because that's the energy you need to infuse into those different kinds of work . But what

How to read the Fathers

Speaker 1 5:39

I would say is read what you have to read peacefully and closely , and try to capture and this will happen naturally If you read in a prayerful way try to capture what the deeper meaning really is .

Speaker 1 5:59

What I want is for you to grow in your understanding of an ethos , the patristic mindset , the phronema , the biblical and patristic tradition of the church . What is that really about ? Again , what's the practical relevance of this for me ? So as , when we read the Bible , just let it flow into you ,

Inspiration of the saving work of Christ

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absorb it . By the grace of God , you will be inspired by Holy Week , pascha , which opens up the heart , opens up the mind , gives us the amazing privilege of reliving the saving work of Christ , and so the light of the resurrection will no doubt inspire

Example of my mother reading Bible and Lives of the Saints

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you . You know , I remember my mother . God rest her soul .

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While I was watching TV , she was reading the Bible . I think she read the Old Testament and the New Testament together three times . She had a Bible that had a commentary . It was a Bible that was produced by Trembelas . He wrote a commentary .

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Trembelas is probably known to you for some negative reasons , but he was a phenomenal scholar . Actually , his specialization was liturgics . So she read the commentaries , and then she had a collection of about 200 booklets , each about the life of a saint , about the life of a saint , and she had read all of them . So much so that when we were in Greece once , speaking to an experienced monk . Somebody asked do you know anything , father ? Can you tell us anything about the life of so-and-so ? And he said that he couldn't . My mum happened to have read the little booklet , so she knew .

Speaker 1 8:08

You know , you have to be aware of a wider context and not just think academically or non-liturgically . And beyond all of that , our parents and especially I don't know our mothers , grandmothers they were very prayerful people .

Fr. John Romanides’ mother

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You know , father John Romanides' mother used to get up at three o'clock in the morning to say her prayers before she went to work . When they were living

Synaxaristes

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in the Bronx , when they were living in the Bronx and

Positive perspective of divine Providence

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Synaxarion , a lot of people had the Synaxaristis in their homes Traditionally . I don't know if everybody could afford one . Anyway , I think it shouldn't be pressed too far .

Speaker 1 9:00

Why not look at it from the other perspective ? Why not look at it from the perspective of now ? We have this privilege . It's been given to us surely for a reason . Why not look at it providentially and say , perhaps God has given us these books because , as my wife said , when I said , isn't it remarkable that the saints that we've been blessed with in our own times truly stand out ? And she said , because we need them . So why not look at it in that sense ? Because we need them ? Is that a reason to say , oh , we don't need to read the Fathers because they never used to read them as much , in the days when , it's true , perhaps it wasn't easy to get hold of a manuscript , but when they did , they treasured it and they used it and they learned things by heart . Learned things by heart . Why not take a more positive approach and say we need the support and inspiration of our fathers now more than ever , and that's what God is giving us .

Speaker 1 10:14

And was this not also the case once upon a time with the Bible , the Holy Scriptures and the

“Some people just want to say whatever comes into their minds”

Speaker 1 10:22

Bible ? The problem , I feel , is that I don't know why . To tell you the truth , I've never been able to understand it . Do we want the freedom to say whatever just comes to our minds ? Is that what it's all about ? We just want to say I am some kind of sage that if you listen to me , you're going to receive some word of wisdom

“Post-Patristic”, “Post-Biblical ”, and “Post-liturgical theologies”

Speaker 1 10:49

that you can't even find in the Fathers . I'm going to free myself from the Fathers . I'm going to disconnect myself from the Scriptures . So we have a post-patristic theology and we have what ? A post-biblical theology , post-liturgical theology . What we're going to do ? Throw the liturgical books out of the wind as well , because , hey , once upon a time we didn't have those either .

Speaker 1 11:15

You know , the difficulty is that this person here prevents me from saying whatever I want . And you know why . Because he knows what he's talking about . Whatever I want , and you know why ? Because he knows what he's talking about . That's why

The correct attitude: the humble way

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he's lived it , he's done it and he knows from experience . And if I have the right attitude , I will humble my mind and learn from such people so that I may follow in his footsteps in some way . But if I want to say whatever I feel like saying , yeah , take the book away .

St. Gregory Palamas - the “Libri Carolini”

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That's why people don't like St Gregory Palamas . You know , the West , the West is all speculation , so , so they think they've gone beyond the fathers . Let's see where that leads to .

Speaker 1 12:12

The Libri Carolini , huh , the amazing thing is that , st Gregory Palmas ,

Originality of Hesychasts from within Tradition

Speaker 1 12:19

you know , the Hesychasts were so original . There is an originality , a real , a genuine originality , in the way that they presented Orthodox theology

True originality vs originality outside of God

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. But their originality came from within the tradition . They expressed the Orthodox tradition and pushed theological expression to its very limits . That was true originality . The originality that the others want is outside of God , outside of the tradition

Heresy = wrong medicine

Speaker 1 12:56

and , in church language , that's heresy , because that originality doesn't lead to the goal .

Speaker 1 13:03

It's like giving the wrong medicine . This is the medicine . You don't like the medicine . That's the goal . It's like giving the wrong medicine . This is the medicine . You don't like the medicine . That's the medicine . You don't like every medicine that the doctor gives you the steroids I'm on now . They're bitter , they're horrible , but you take it because it's the right medicine that brings therapy , healing and the other stuff . You know it may taste better initially , but what does it bring

Two approaches: human and divine

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?

Speaker 1 13:31

Whether you call it psychology or something else , what you're really talking about is whether you approach the challenges of life in a human way , on a human level , or whether you approach them in a divine way , on the divine level . And the divine way is the way that Christ taught us through his commandments and by his example . And that's the choice we always have human or divine .

The “long-term solution” is the way of Christ

Speaker 1 14:12

And you feel . You feel that you know that , because the long-term solution cannot be the human World . History has shown us that . So , if you take the divine way , all the things that God has given us in this world are blessed . So it's not that we're trying to abolish psychology or medicine or whatever the human knowledge may be . It's blessed , it's given to us by God , but you use it and you approach it in a different way .

Speaker 1 14:45

Everything takes on a different color and , I would say , is bathed in the light of Christ , then things are seen in their proper

Natural contemplation

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perspective , and that is what the Fathers sometimes refer to as natural contemplation Contemplation of the world through the eyes of the Holy Spirit . In other words , to see the world as God sees the world , because we were not created for a human life . We were created for His life . And if we learn that before we die , that means we learn to live before we die , which is a great achievement . It's a great blessing that we may learn how to live so that our death is not a death but transports us from death to life .

Speaker 1 15:48

Again , we sense that we know there's something deeply , deeply wrong with death Whenever we encounter it in any shape or form . We know it's not right , and it's correct to feel that it's not

We were not created for death but for uncreated life

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right , because we were not created for death . Because

Purpose of our existence depicted in the Transfiguration

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we were not created for death . We were created for life eternal and divine , uncreated life . This is our calling , this is the purpose of the Lord's creation of man , and we see that in a concrete way Many , many instances . One of them is the transfiguration of Christ , graphic representation of what we have been called to become

Inspiring others

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.

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This vision will enable you to inspire others . If you have it , you will be able to inspire others by lifting them up and helping them to see something of the great , astounding that God loves and respects each and every one of us to the degree that he does , and his providence is with us every breath we take . What do we know ? We don't know anything .

Thanking God and everyone, request for prayers

Speaker 1 17:29

Don't know anything , yeah , so thank God , thank God for all things . Well , maybe it's time to wrap things up . Thank you for your , your professors , and support the Mount Tabor Academy , thank you .

Speaker 1 17:46

We've said before that the worship of the church is very powerful and if we're careful and we're attentive , it's a very powerful tool for conversion and spreading Christianity . I think it's fair to say most people are attracted to the Orthodox Church first through worship . There are those who have taken a more intellectual road to the Orthodox faith , but it's the worship of the Church that really is the most powerful thing that we have . Of the

The Church Transcends Culture - Fr. John Romanides

Speaker 1 18:18

church , that really is the most powerful thing that we have the divine liturgy . We've also said before . You know , the church creates culture , but herself is not culture . Herself is above and beyond culture . So the church has given us great cultures which have become intertwined with Christianity , orthodox Christianity , and that's a wonderful , blessed gift .

Speaker 1 18:43

But the Church points us in the direction of things eternal , so that we learn to prefer things eternal to things temporal and understand that whatever may be the case where we live in the world today , that will pass and each one of us will be faced with the question of eternity , no matter who he is . You know we have here no continuing city . That's why it's futile and even sad . When you hear about church politics May have the word church in front of it , but it's politics .

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You

My Mother and Fr. Zacharias

Speaker 1 19:27

know , there was a lady who had cancer and she was hospitalized and the cancer grew and grew and grew so much she continued to live . She was skin and bones . But the cancer in her this area became so big that you would think there was a basketball inside her . That's how big the tumor was her . That's how big the tumor was . And when the priest went to her and said , are you still able to pray ? She was on morphine and she tried very hard to keep prayer and it was good For a long time she was able to do that and she said to the priest Father , it's very difficult for me to keep the prayer now . And the priest said to her if you can say the name Jesus as often as you can , that would be good . How are you managing ? He asked her . And instead of saying you know , I'm in such pain , I don't know how something like that , she said . She said am I worthy ? Am I worthy to suffer this ? She was marveling that God had made her worthy to suffer such an illness , such a monstrosity . You know in a good way . She was wondering and amazed that God had counted her worthy to endure this suffering and have this end . And the priest said that when she died he happened to be celebrating the divine liturgy at the time and , without being told although it was confirmed a bit later he heard in his heart as he was celebrating the divine liturgy she is saved , she is saved . And at the end of the divine liturgy he was told that this person had died .

Why We Wish One Another Many Years - Prof. John Fountoulis

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Our professor of liturgics , professor John Fundulis , used to say to us why do we wish one another many years ? Whether we live or whether we die , we are the lords . So why many years ? What's the benefit of many years ? More years to repent absolutely . Fundulis used to say more years to repent absolutely . Fondoulis used to say more years to be privileged , to go through the liturgical cycle and each time to experience the saving works of Christ just a little more deeply . Each time we're blessed to experience the liturgical cycle , it enriches us . This is our treasure . We become deeper human beings , enriched , enlarged . Our heart is enlarged , our heart is enabled to receive more grace . That's why we wish one another many blessed

Appeal

Speaker 1 22:54

years . Please subscribe to our channel and share with your friends why we wish one another many blessed years .