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

A Heart of Love…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

“If we want, Christian, to have our heart filled with divine love we must first empty them of the love of this world, its frivolous and sinful customs and then turn our hearts to the one God, our only good and happiness and eternal beatitude.”

– St. Tikhon of Zadonsk,  “True Christianity”

On Johnny Cash…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

and the relationship between his faith and his music.

The tension between the flesh and spirit, between things of this earth
and things of heaven, animated all of Cash’s music. It’s what drew
audiences to him generation after generation. Sin and redemption, good
and evil, selfishness and love, and the struggles of living by a
standard set not by man but by God — all were driving forces in Cash’s
work and life.

Read more here…

More Wisdom…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

It is always possible to make a new start by means of repentance. “You fell,” it is written, “now arise” (Proverbs 24:16). And if you fall again, then rise again, without despairing at all of your salvation, no matter what happens. As long as you do not surrender yourself willingly to the enemy, your patient endurance, combined with self-reproach, will suffice for your salvation. “For at one time we ourselves went astray in our folly and disobedience,” says St. Paul. ” . . . Yet he saved us, not because of any good things we had done, but in his mercy” (Titus 3:5). So do not despair in any way, ignoring God’s help, for he can do whatever he wishes. On the contrary, place your hope in him and he will do one of these things: either through trials and temptations, or in some other way which he alone knows, he will bring about your restoration, – or he will accept your patient endurance and humility in the place of works, – or because of your hope he will act lovingly toward you in some other way of which you are not aware, and so will save your shackled soul. Only do not abandon your Physician.

St Peter of Damascus

Via the Holy Fathers Facebook Page