Author: Fr. John Chagnon

On Helping Others…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

“Helping a person in need is good in itself. But the degree of goodness is hugely affected by the attitude with which it is done. If you show resentment because you are helping the person out of a reluctant sense of duty, then the person may receive your help but may feel awkward and embarrassed. This is because he will feel beholden to you. If,on the other hand, you help the person in a spirit of joy, then the help will be received joyfully. The person will feel neither demeaned nor humiliated by your help, but rather will feel glad to have caused you pleasure by receiving your help. And joy is the appropriate attitude with which to help others because acts of generosity are a source of blessing to the giver as well as the receiver.”

St. John Chrysostom

h/t to Deacon John

What Do I Need…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment
The one thing needful
(From the spiritual diary of St. John of Kronstadt, “My Life in Christ”)

What do I need? There is nothing on earth that I need, except that which is most essential. What do I need, what is most essential? I need the Lord, I need His grace, His kingdom within me. On earth, which is the place of my wanderings, my temporary being, there is nothing that is truly mine, everything belongs to God and is temporal, everything serves my needs temporarily. What do I need? I need true and active Christian love; I need a loving heart which takes compassion on its neighbors; I need joy over their prosperity and well-being, and sorrow over their sorrows and illnesses, their sins, failings, disorders, woes, poverty; I need warm and sincere compassion for all the circumstances of their lives, joy for those who are joyous and tears for those who are in tears. Enough of selfishness, egoism, living only for oneself and acquiring everything only for oneself: riches, pleasures, the glory of this world; enough of spiritual dying instead of living, grieving instead of rejoicing, and carrying within oneself the poison of selfishness, for selfishness is a poison that is continuously poured into our hearts by Satan. O, let me cry out with King David: Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart. Grant me, O Lord, true life, dispel the darkness of my passions, disperse their power with Thy strength, for with Thee all things are possible!

To Be Tempted…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

is not to be a failure. All the great Saints, even Jesus Himself, were tempted. Too many times people think the presence of temptations is a sign they are failing but temptations are just that, pieces of thought that flow in and around us and mean nothing, in one sense, except that we are human beings who share the common mortality of our kind on this Earth. What matters is what we do with those random pieces of thought. Do we cultivate them, nurture them, and act on them? Then, and only then, do they have the potential to become sin and do us, and others, harm.

That being said I still wish temptations would go away. I find them annoying in the least and paralyzing, sometimes, at worst. Any moments of peace from their assault is a gift and those slender moments when all of who I am is in some state of holiness are treasures. I wither, sometimes, under the assault of temptation, and sometimes, too often, I fall. I desperately wish that life would be free of such things yet even those who live as hermits are not immune.  So this seems to be part of what it is to be a human and I will have these things buzzing around my head like gnats until my last breath.

Still truth remains and I will try not to despair. To follow this beautiful path is to be challenged on all sides every day by everything that is less beautiful, less good, and less real. In time the peace will come. Its not what flies around me that matters so much as that which I embrace. In the end there is some comfort in that and some hope, as well.

If It Were Up to Me…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

I would just sit this morning, sit and let the services flow over me. Close my eyes and listen to the words. Hear the music and ponder the presence. To step away for a time would be to see the mystery and beauty of the dance without the loss of wonder that comes with the earthy business of choreography, of steps that have to be taken, of charts and diagrams and directions and rubrics.

I ponder what it must be like to be a Bishop at times, to nearly always come in to parishes that struggle with the hows and whys and where’s of worship on that one Sunday, for them, of the year. For a parish this is a challenge to be overcome. For a Bishop this is every Sunday. How do they themselves see the beauty and holiness of what they are doing when they are constantly giving directions, answering questions, and saying “Stand there, sit there, move to this place.”

In some ways it’s a blessing to have an iconostasis, a shield to protect those who stand without from the chaos that sometimes is within. For those who celebrate, the time spent behind those sacred walls is time to snatch glimpses of the holy, snippets of worship, and flashes of the beauty of what is happening all around them, the beauty that drove them to become celebrants in the first place. It’s as if when one circles the altar in ordination they are also sacrificing, for their lives, the ability to completely bask in that which brought them to the altar in the first place. From this day forward you will be directing altar boys, making sure you are on the right page, dealing with people who come into the sanctuary unannounced, and answering questions in the middle of prayers.

Perhaps, in the end, this is the ultimate offering of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, the temporary suspension of ever having a complete moment of reverence and awe so that others could have it if they so choose. On earth we are asked to catch glimpses, in heaven, in the presence of the Priest, we will be able to live and worship as we desire.  Yet love even for the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table somehow keeps us going.

And now off to Liturgy.

The Dry Times Come…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

and the past few months have been dry, restless, challenging, and spiritually thin. There are things that I’ve wanted to do for decades that still haven’t happened and things I need to do that I’m not crazy about. There are places where I am and places where I want to be. There are dreams that remain unfulfilled and realities that have worn me down. Woven in and through it all is the sense that time is short and growing shorter.

These things happen, even when you’re a Priest. No collar makes you immune from the cares of life, or, for that matter, a heavy dose of mid-life crisis. Like everyone else you ask questions, wonder if you did or are doing the right thing, and sometimes ponder the life that could have been if you had, say, went to law school instead of seminary.

So what do you do? Like anyone else you figure out what things you can do something about and in what order they can be done. Then you pray and think and work and risk and second guess. All the kinds of things that everyone else does. Oh, and you hope that the dry times will someday end, someday feel the first drops of holy rain on the parched earth of your soul.

They do, they will, but until then you wait.

A Good Read…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

From the blog “Glory to God for All Things”

Understanding this and embracing this is perhaps the most fundamental step in living a right relationship with the cultures in which we dwell. Creation is not our enemy, nor are the institutions, mores, customs, folkways, etc., of the culture around us inherently evil. The successful moments of Orthodox culture, whether of Byzantium or Holy Russia, are not examples of a past that must be reclaimed and re-instituted in the present. The successful moments in Orthodox culture (however relative that success may have been) are demonstrations of what is possible in the Divine/human life of faith.

Read more here…

If You Want…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

to create a race of slaves the first thing you need to do is get them addicted, to drugs, to sex, to IPads, to money, to fame, to whatever is new and shiny, the list goes on. When people are thus addicted they can be rendered captive to their emotions, their desires, their need for things, and any and all means to acquire the object of their addiction. If you control the supply of whatever is desirable and worthy of a person’s addiction you will rule. If you are the addict you will be the ruled. Once you remove God or any sense of the transcendent from the people you have addicted, thus denying any recourse to something larger, better, or a standard of justice to which all are held accountable, the slavery will be complete. The few will become powerful and the addicted masses will remain passive, lost in the haze of the material world which marks their bondage.

Worth Contemplating…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

We Orthodox are not Always Perfect, but Stay the Course!

Orthodoxy is not always easy, and there are many parishes that seem to make living our Orthodox faith far more difficult than needs to be. The lack of joy in some quarters is not about Orthodoxy, but about the fallen people who make up the Church. This is to be expected, of course, since the Church is a hospital for the soul, and therefore home to a lot of sick people. The good news is, we are all in the right place for the needed healing to take place, and wholeness and lasting joy will come to everyone who stays the course.

Don’t ever let a mean spirited parishioner, nor a harsh speaking priest, drive you from the Church. This is your home as well, and, just as in a dysfunctional household, a lot of growth can take place, even when the parish is not ideal. Pray for your priest, and for the people who have made you feel uncomfortable. Pray to Saint John the Wonderworker of San Francisco, who was such a loving father and pastor, for help. Although a good confessor and great preacher would be preferable to the priest who never has the time for you, the Church is still the place for you. He may deliver lousy homilies, and may seem harsh as a confession, and devoid of people skills, the reality is the Church is still the place for you.

There is an old saying in Orthodox: “The people get the bishop they deserve”. Instead of walking away from Orthodoxy, look around for a parish that might be a better fit for you and your family. If language is a problem for your children, find a parish that uses English. If your parish priest serves like a sorcerer, with all the correct and lengthy formulas, but is devoid of the love of Christ, pray for him. Yet if you and your children would benefit, by all means look into the possibility that another parish might be a better fit, and a place where you can all grow in the faith. Better to leave a dysfunctional parish, than to leave Orthodoxy.

If you have no other options, and your parish is the only Orthodox church in the region, make the best of it. Remember, most parishes were closed down completely during Soviet times. The priests and bishops sent off to their deaths, yet the Church lived on with the faithful making do under the harshest of times.

Ultimately, your life in the Church is all about Christ, and Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will not betray you, for He is the source of all joy and goodness. It is Christ Who is the Great Physician, the Giver of Life, and the Healer of Souls. The Church belongs to Him, and in spite of the fact we priests sometimes fail to be the Light of Christ to our people, does in no way negate the fact that the Church is still the Fountain of Life, and the place wherein we can receive healing of all that ails us.

Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon