document.write('\x3cmeta http-equiv=\x22x-dns-prefetch-control\x22 content=\x22off\x22/\x3e\x3col class=\x22tumblr_posts\x22\x3e\x0a    \x0a        \x0a            \x3cli class=\x22tumblr_post tumblr_text_post\x22\x3e\x0a                \x0a                \x0a                \x3cdiv class=\x22tumblr_body\x22\x3e\x0a                    \x3cp\x3e\x3cdiv\x3eDear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cstrong\x3eHAPPY CIVIL NEW YEAR!\x3c/strong\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eIn  an American film from the 1990s, a prostitute \x26#8216;servicing\x26#8217; veterans of  the Vietnam War (1955-1975) is overjoyed at a noisy, tawdry party on New  Year\x26#8217;s Eve. She says: \x3cem\x3e\x26#8216;Don\x26#8217;t you just love New Year\x26#8217;s Eve? Everybody gets to start all over again. Everyone gets a second chance\x26#8217;. \x3c/em\x3eFor  those old enough - and young enough - to bear the scars of the  traumatic \x26#8216;Sixties-\x26#8216;Seventies, the words ring true. Every generation has  its psychological wound, from which it needs to recover: the Blitz and  the Holocaust, the war in Vietnam, the unbridled greed that has  dominated the consumerist West since the \x26#8216;Eighties and now possesses the  post-Marxist East. When the law of life becomes \x3cspan\x3e\x3cem\x3e\x26#8216;each man for himself\x3c/em\x3e\x26#8217;, \x3c/span\x3eit is time to start all over again.\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eThe Holy Orthodox Church, the \x3cem\x3eonly \x3c/em\x3econstant  in the flux of history, celebrated her New Year in September. As we  watch an orphaned, secular society celebrate its New Year on the eve of 1  January, we should weep for those who have no hope. We should mourn the  blind eyes that see nothing ahead. But we should have the \x3cem\x3ecourage \x3c/em\x3eto say to them\u00a0\x3cspan\x3e\x26#8217;\x3cem\x3eChrist is born!\x26#8217; \x3c/em\x3e\x3c/span\x3ein the winter of the world\x26#8217;s old age. \x3cem\x3e\x26#8216;Christ is risen!\x26#8217; \x3c/em\x3efrom the sepulchre of the world\x26#8217;s death. The Orthodox Church is \x3cem\x3enot \x3c/em\x3ea  nostalgic old lady, rocking in a chair and dreaming of lost loves. She  is a virgin, ever new and young, waiting for her Bridegroom. The lesson of both ecclesiastical and civil New Year  is the same: the snows of winter must melt, if the buds of spring are  to appear.\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cstrong\x3eTHE GLORIOUS APPEARANCE OF GOD\x3c/strong\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3eIn  the early Church, Christmas was not the much-loved, much-advertised  festival that it is today. St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra in Lycia,  had not yet donned the red-and-white snow suit of an elf. Macy\x26#8217;s,  Gimbel\x26#8217;s, M \x26amp; S, John Lewis and Debenham\x26#8217;s had not yet usurped the  place of the Three Magi, bringing profits to themselves rather than to  Christ. The greatest feast of the winter was called \x3cspan\x3e\x3cstrong\x3eTHEO - PHANIA\x3c/strong\x3e, \x3c/span\x3ethe manifestation  of God. It celebrated the baptism of God the Son in the Jordan, when  God the Father\x26#8217;s voice rang out identifying him to those who had ears  and God the Holy Spirit appeared overhead in the form of a dove. The  West came to call the feast merely an \x3cspan\x3e\x3cem\x3eEpiphany\x3c/em\x3e, \x3c/span\x3ean \x26#8216;appearance\x26#8217;, forgetting \x3cem\x3ewho\x3c/em\x3e was appearing to men. In a single instant, for the only time in  history, all Three Persons of the Life-Giving Trinity showed who they  are.\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3eOn the eve of \x3cspan\x3e\x3cem\x3eTheophany\x3c/em\x3e, \x3c/span\x3eonly  a few years ago, the angels carried our beloved Father Michael to  con-celebrate at the Holy Liturgy in the Kingdom. We have prayed for him  ever since and shall do so perpetually. Since his day, our community has become more and more  diverse, most recently drawing people with origins in Iran, Poland,  Russia, Romania, Jamaica, and St. Vincent. This is the mark of an  authentically Christian parish. So, when we celebrate the \x3cem\x3eTheophany \x3c/em\x3eon \x3cspan\x3e\x3cstrong\x3eJanuary the 8th\x3c/strong\x3e, \x3c/span\x3ewe  shall not only bless the waters and pray for Father Michael on the  memorial of his falling-asleep but receive our friend Aaron Barwell as  our brother in Christ. For almost a year, Aaron has been a model \x3cem\x3epar excellence \x3c/em\x3eof quiet, humble, faithful service to the Church, arriving promptly and taking part in our life as a community.\u00a0\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3ePlease  come to church on 8 January, bringing three gifts: empty bottles to take holy  water to your homes, grateful memories of Father Michael that become  prayers for his soul, and joyful prayers for Aaron as he enters the Body  of the Church of Christ. These are our gifts on \x3cspan\x3e\x3cem\x3eTheophany\x3c/em\x3e. \x3c/span\x3eAs Saint Irenaeos of Lyons says, \x3cspan\x3e\x26#8216;\x3cem\x3eThe glory of God is a man fully alive\x26#8217;.\x3c/em\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cstrong\x3eA MAN OF SMALL STATURE\u00a0\x3c/strong\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eToward the end of January, we already look to our springtime journey. \x3cem\x3eLent \x3c/em\x3ecomes  from the Anglo-Saxon word for spring: while we let the fire of God melt  the snow of sin, we also look for the green growth that will appear at \x3cspan\x3e\x3cem\x3ePascha\x3c/em\x3e, \x3c/span\x3ethe  Feast of the Resurrection. The earliest sign is a little tax collector  named Zacchaeus. Shorter even than I (at 5 foot 6 inches, I am the same  height as Winston Churchill!), Zacchaeus cannot see Jesus over the heads  of the crowds thronging him. He climbs into a sycamore tree. When Jesus  sees him, he says \x3cspan\x3e\x26#8216;\x3cem\x3eCome down, I\x26#8217;m going to have dinner at your house!\x3c/em\x3e\x26#8217; \x3c/span\x3eThe  words are all that it takes to move the corrupt, small-minded  money-grubber to donate half his income to the poor and repay everyone  that he has defrauded four-fold.\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\u00a0\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eRepentance is big, not small. It flows from a heart that is generous, not mean. \x3cspan\x3e\x3cstrong\x3eLet us give to the Church, the Body of Christ\x3c/strong\x3e, \x3c/span\x3enot  merely take away. This includes our Bring-and-Share meals on Sundays.  Let us not rely on only a few to bring food - let all bring something.  Some serve in the holy altar, some sing in the choir, and some, who  bring food to share, give glory to God exactly as Zacchaeus did when he  divided his wealth with the poor. Repentance is about giving, not giving  up.\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eRepentance  is not misery. It is joy. In a fallen life, it is the greatest joy. A  man of small stature becomes ten feet tall that day. Like the one out of  ten lepers who thanks Christ, he becomes larger in spirit than he ever  dreamed was possible. The Church is a perpetual New Year\x26#8217;s Eve: \x3cspan\x3e\x26#8216;\x3cem\x3eeveryone gets a second chance\x3c/em\x3e\x26#8217;.\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cstrong\x3eMEN OF TALL STATURE\u00a0\x3c/strong\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3eA  few short men are born very tall - tall in spirit, tall in mind. This  first month of the civil calendar, we celebrate men of exceptional  understanding. Some, like Basil the Great (the 1st), Athanasius and  Cyril of Alexandria (the 18th), Maximos the Confessor (the 21st),  Gregory the Theologian (the 25th), and John Chrysostom (the 27th), were  not only well-educated but bold, daring, and deeply insightful, able to  plumb the mysteries that we all celebrate when we come to the Divine  Liturgy and other services. This handful of bishops and priests includes many of the  greatest minds of the Church. Others, like Seraphim of Sarov (2  January), were not learned in a worldly sense but had eyes to see most  clearly into the pain and joy of the human heart. This is the foremost  trait of an ascetic saint.\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3eThe  Orthodox Church does not boast in worldly learning which, like beauty  or wealth, is at best a tool in the hands of someone who uses it wisely.  To use it foolishly, imperils the soul. Rather, the Church boasts in  healing a sick and dying world through the Cross and Resurrection of Our  Lord Jesus Christ. Fasting, prayer, and study are not ends in  themselves but medicines from the cabinet to heal spiritual ills and  restore spiritual health.\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cstrong\x3eTHE LITTLE DOGS\x3c/strong\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3eMany worldly-minded people in our age of sleepwalkers complain that \x3cspan\x3e\x26#8216;\x3cem\x3ethe Church\x26#8217;\x3c/em\x3e, \x3c/span\x3ewhatever  they imagine that it is, disregards the gifts of women. Only someone  who does not know the Mother of God and the saints imagines it so. What  world faith ever dared to proclaim that a teenage girl who said \x3cspan\x3e\x26#8216;\x3cem\x3eYes\x26#8217; \x3c/em\x3e\x3c/span\x3eto a voice is more glorious than the highest ranks of angels? If our Most Holy Lady, the \x3cem\x3eTheotokos\x3c/em\x3e\u00a0and Ever-Virgin Mary, is the means by which the Almighty became a human being, \x3cem\x3eevery woman \x3c/em\x3ein some degree partakes of her grace. A man is a real man  in the degree that he respects women. So did God in the flesh respect or  disrespect them?\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3cspan\x3e\x3cbr/\x3e\x3c/span\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eThe  Canaanite woman whose daughter was possessed is a case in point. In  modern terms, she is a Palestinian. She knows that a Jew, such as Jesus  the Son of David, regards her with disdain. He tests her faith,  reminding her that he was sent to the house of Israel, not the  indigenous people of the land. Is this not typical \x3cspan\x3e\x26#8216;\x3cem\x3epatriarchy\x3c/em\x3e\x26#8217;\x3c/span\x3e, as feminists charge\x3cspan\x3e? \x3c/span\x3eHe  even implies that she is a dog, yelping for the children\x26#8217;s bread. She  gets the joke: even the little dogs, she says, eat the crumbs that fall  from the table. Jesus proclaims: \x3cspan\x3e\x26#8216;\x3cem\x3eWoman, great is your faith!\x3c/em\x3e\x26#8217; \x3c/span\x3eWithout seeing or touching the woman\x26#8217;s daughter, he heals her from that instant. Her mother\x26#8217;s faith is greater than most men\x26#8217;s.\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eThe  \x26#8216;little dog\x26#8217; of a Canaanite woman symbolises us - unclean Gentiles.  Unless you were brought up in the Jewish faith and born of a Jewish  mother, you are a newcomer to the household of God. The original People  of God saw you as unclean, idolatrous, brutal, bloodthirsty, and  blasphemous. The Law of Moses prescribed rules of diet and conduct  simply in order to ensure that the People of God did not come near you  or you them. When God himself became a man, all that changed. If you  have \x3cstrong\x3e\x3cem\x3efaith\x3c/em\x3e\x3c/strong\x3e, as strong and humble as the People of God were meant to have, you\x3cem\x3e become \x3c/em\x3eone of them. Incorporated by water and the Holy Spirit, including the oil of \x3cspan\x3e\x3cem\x3echrism\x3c/em\x3e, \x3c/span\x3einto Christ Jesus, you shed everything that once kept you apart.\u00a0\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eBut, like the Canaanite woman, you must be humble enough to change. In this New Year, let each of us have one resolution: \x3cem\x3elet us be humble enough to let God change us\x3c/em\x3e,  restore in us who we really are. Let us not dwell in the past but go  forward into the future. When the winds of winter have died, the spring  will come.\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3e\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eYours faithfully in Christ,\x3c/div\x3e\x0a\x3cdiv\x3eFr. Alexander.\x3c/div\x3e\x3c/p\x3e\x0a                \x3c/div\x3e\x0a            \x3c/li\x3e\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a\x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a        \x0a\x0a                        \x0a    \x0a\x3c/ol\x3e');