St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - weekly talks

Ivanka Demchuk - Icon

Ivanka Demchuk - Icon

Ivanka Demchuk - Icon

Easter Homily of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople ~ 400 AD

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let them enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival. If anyone is a grateful servant, let them, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.

If anyone has wearied themselves in fasting, let them now receive recompense. If anyone has labored from the first hour, let them today receive the just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let them feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let them have no misgivings; for they shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let them draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let them not fear on account of tardiness.

For the Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one He gives, and to the other He is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention.

Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward. O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day!

You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today! The table is rich-laden: feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted: let no one go forth hungry! Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.

Let no one lament their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn their transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free. He that was taken by death has annihilated it!

He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: "Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions".

It was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains! It took a body and came upon God! It took earth and encountered Ηeaven! It took what it saw, but crumbled before what cannot be seen! O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept.

To Him be glory and might unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The Precious and Life-giving Cross of Christ

Theodore of Studium (759-826)

How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.

This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the Lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord, like a brave warrior wounded in his hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree.

What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory! Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom’s pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness.

The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God’s command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons’ wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians, divided the sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God’s own people? Aaron’s rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood?

By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven.

Theodore the Studite (also known as Theodorus Studita, St. Theodore of Stoudios, and St. Theodore of Studium; 759–826) was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios monastery in Constantinople, founded in 462 or 463 by the consul Studios (Studius), a Roman who had settled in Constantinople, and was dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

Theodore's letter, containing suggested monastery reform rules, is the first recorded stand against slavery. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium.

He is known as a zealous opponent of iconoclasm, one of several conflicts that set him at odds with both emperor and patriarch. After his death the Studios monastery continued to be a vital center for Byzantine hymnography and hagiography, as well as for the copying of manuscripts.

Having Loved His Own Who Were in the World, He Loved Them to the End

The whole visible world proclaims the goodness of God, but nothing proclaims it so clearly as his coming among us, by which he whose state was divine assumed the condition of a slave. This was not a lowering of his dignity, but rather a manifesting of his love for us. The awesome mystery which takes place today brings us to the consequence of his action. For what is it that takes place today? The Savior washes the feet of his disciples. Although he took upon himself everything pertaining to our condition as slaves, he took a slave’s position in a way specially suited to our own arrangements when he rose from the table.

He who feeds everything beneath the heavens was reclining among the apostles, the master among slaves, the fountain of wisdom among the ignorant, the Word among those untrained in the use of words, the source of wisdom among the unlettered. He who nourishes all was reclining and eating with his disciples. He who sustains the whole world was himself receiving sustenance.

Moreover, he was not satisfied with the great favor he showed his servants by sharing a meal with them. Peter, Matthew, and Philip, men of the earth, reclined with him, while Michael, Gabriel, and the whole army of angels stood by. Oh, the wonder of it! The angels stood by in dread, while the disciples reclined with him with the utmost familiarity!

And even this marvel did not content him. He rose from the table, as Scripture says. He who is clothed in light as in a robe was clad in a cloak; he who wraps the heavens in clouds wrapped round himself a towel; he who pours the water into the rivers and pools tipped some water into a basin. And he before whom every knee bends in heaven and on earth and under the earth, knelt to wash the feet of his disciples.

The Lord of all creation washed his disciples’ feet! This was not an affront to his dignity, but a demonstration of his boundless love for us. Yet however great his love was, Peter was well aware of his majesty. Always impetuous and quick to profess his faith, he was quick also to recognize the truth. The other disciples had let the Lord wash their feet, not with indifference, but with fear and trembling. They dared not oppose the Master. Out of reverence, however, Peter would not permit it. He said: Lord, are you going to wash my feet? You shall never wash my feet!

Peter was adamant. He had the right feelings, but not understanding the full meaning of the incarnation, he first refused in a spirit of faith, and afterward gratefully obeyed. This is how religious people ought to behave. They should not be obdurate in their decisions, but should surrender to the will of God. For although Peter reasoned in human fashion, he changed his mind out of love for God.

Severian (late 4th century)

John 20:19-29 (The Second Sunday of Easter)

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews,[a] Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Jesus and Thomas

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin,[b] was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Mark 16:1-8

16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Why Did Jesus Have To Die?- Palm Sunday - Fr. Michael Flowers 01.25.24 by St. Aidan's Anglican Church, KC

The first five minutes were lost in the recording. The notes are below:

Today, the 5th Sunday of Lent marks the beginning of Passiontide, a two-week period commemorating Jesus’ suffering and death, leading us to Holy Week. Today is also the Feast Day of St. Patrick, that 5th Century British Saint who became the Apostle of Ireland. Though in America, St. Patrick’s Day has become a celebration of Irish culture, the Church commemorates the eternal significance of his life.

Let’s turn our attention to Passiontide: John, 12:20-33.

The setting is the Feast of Passover. A group of Greeks attending requested to see Jesus. Because Philip (Filippos) is a very Greek name, perhaps they had some prior conversations. At any rate, Philip needs to check out the request with Andrew, another Greek name (Andreas). The bulk of Jesus’ disciples were from Galilee, called Galilee of the Gentiles. At any rate, they decide to let Jesus know Greeks have requested an audience with him.

23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Something shifts when Jesus hears that some Greeks want to see him. It signals that his hour has come. Earlier in John’s Gospel, at the Wedding of Cana, he tells his mother that his hour had not yet come. What does this mean?

His hour has come—to be glorified. That sounds like he will ride into Jerusalem on a white horse with the armies of heaven. So, how is he to be gloried?

He uses a metaphor of sowing grains of wheat into the earth.

He is the grain of wheat that must fall into the ground and die. He knows that his death will bear much fruit …

He knows his death is how these Greeks and every tribe, kindred, and tongue will see Jesus!

John wants us to see the cross as the ultimate means of glorification and the logic of his resurrection. Why is the cross the ultimate means of glorification? Because of what his death alone accomplishes.

Jesus continues…

25 Whoever loves his life (psuche) loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

The word for life used here is psyche – translated as life or soul. This source of life, the ego, alienated from God and in rebellion towards God, must be crucified.

The Psyche must fall into the ground and die so that newness of life in Christ can emerge. The “I” no longer lives but Christ lives in its place.

To hate one’s life in this world?

To hate one’s life in this world is not about self-annihilation but a recognition of the self in rebellion against God. Rejecting the false self is a way of caring for the true self. A shift from “my will” to “His will.”

Jesus is saying to be truly human, one must undergo this difficult death of the false self.

St. Ignatius of Antioch ... read.

Not yet born, not yet alive, not yet human.

Today’s Gospel passage says the same thing. Our transfiguration will come through submitting our daily struggle to live in union with Jesus.

He identifies with the struggle: 27Now my soul (psyche) is troubled.

Jesus saw his cross as the great cosmic exorcism of the world.

Until Christ returns, we remain in battles and blessings.

Through it all, we have been united with Christ.

The power of the cross enables us to live in newness of life.

The power of the cross brings us under the reign of grace.

The cross is the power of God unto salvation.

Let us cling to His cross, proclaiming his death until he returns.