From the Middle East…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

This is more or less what is happening today. The state of Israel is now the “Western out-post” in the Middle East (parallel to the old Crusader states) and Western geo-political and economic (i.e. oil) interests far out-weigh religious affiliations. The West has shown again and again that their “Christian brothers” in the east are expendable. Even among the Religious Right in the USA the safety and priorities of the state of Israel are far more important than the welfare of eastern Christians. Saddam Hussein had to go – he was a threat to Israel. Never mind that the new regime in Iraq does nothing to protect its Christian minorities. Syria is the same story. The Assad government has protected the ancient Christian communities in Syria. That counts for nothing. More important is the fact that Assad is anti-Israeli. In Reuters news this morning the Assad government was described as “the most oppressive regime in the Middle East.” Really? Then try being a Christian in Saudi Arabia! Right across the Middle East in this ‘Arab Spring’ the West is supporting “regime-change” that will install murderous anti-Christian Islamists to power. This is not a new turn in Western realpolitik. The West has shown that it is prepared to jettison its Christian façade when power and influence are at stake. It seems that not much has changed since the Crusades. No one really cares about the Christians in the east – least of all Christians in the West.

Read more here.

The Thing About…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

being a Christian is that you’re always living up to your Truth and that’s okay.

You see, there’s a trap in seeing being a Christian as a state you’ve achieved by virtue of a prayer or a decision made in a point of time or some sacramental action. These are part of things but it leaves out half the equation. There’s a whole lot of life left after you come up from the font or walked the sawdust trail and if you think you’ve arrived you’re in for a surprise.

You, I, we all will find out that as follower of Christ we are most certainly on to something, indeed I would suggest that in the end it’s the only thing. Yet it’s something so much bigger than us that it takes an eternity to work out in our lives.

When we think we’ve got it something will remind us we’re on the way but still have some traveling to do. It keeps us humble. It helps us understand the much larger picture. It gives us hope to carry on when the life we live and the life we wish are not the same. It solves a lot of problems because it explains the difference between the Truth we hold and the conduct of our lives and challenges us to narrow that gap. It frees us from the tyranny of having to pretend we’re already perfect and releases us to the joy of the most holy of journeys, the path to God.

I Think Canada…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

is an inconsequential country and I mean that as a compliment. Nobody much cares what Canada thinks about any issue, what it does, or how Canadian policy will affect their situation. Canadians may hate to hear that, but its true.

And I admire that.

In the US we’re all over the place, a cultural, economic, and military titan. People in little countries in Africa have to think about us and we always seem to be on someone’s horizon. The truth is there are a lot of people who wouldn’t know where Canada is if it weren’t riding our northern border.

But what a cost.

Morally, financially, in lives, energy, and just plain soul being the US is very expensive and getting more so every day. We’re everywhere and nowhere. People have to pay attention to us, and yes, fear us, but we’re getting to be more and more like a punched out fighter. We pay everyone’s bills but our own. We take care of everyone’s problems but our own. We’re on the world’s stage every minute of every day but the act is getting old.

I think Canada has it right. Live within your borders. As best you can live within your means. Be out there in the world but not in everyone’s face. Do good things when you can and be careful about picking fights. Realize it’s not always important to be number one in everything there is to be number one.

Oh, Canada is hardly perfect. Too politically correct. Given to defining themselves by how they are different from the US. Sometimes unsure or unwilling. Yet I think they’ve got something up there, at least a direction that we just south might want to look at. Eat the fruit, spit out the seeds, and not be enraptured with the idea of being a world power all the time.

It has its benefits.

On Love…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

Saint Silouan on Love

The soul cannot know peace unless she prays for her enemies. The soul that has learned of God’s grace to pray, feels love and compassion for every created thing, and in particular for mankind, for whom the Lord suffered on the Cross, and His soul was heavy for every one of us.

The Lord taught me to love my enemies. Without the grace of God we cannot love our enemies. Only the Holy Spirit teaches love, and then even devils arouse our pity because they have fallen from good, and lost humility in God.

I beseech you, put this to the test. When a man affronts you or brings dishonor on your head, or takes what is yours, or persecutes the Church, pray to the Lord, saying: “O Lord, we are all Thy creatures. Have pity on Thy servants and turn their hearts to repentance,” and you will be aware of grace in your soul. To begin with, constrain your heart to love enemies, and the Lord, seeing your good will, will help you in all things, and experience itself will shoe you the way. But the man who thinks with malice of his enemies has not God’s love within him, and does not know God.

If you will pray for your enemies, peace will come to you; but when you can love your enemies – know that a great measure of the grace of God dwells in you, though I do not say perfect grace as yet, but sufficient for salvation. Whereas if you revile your enemies, it means there is an evil spirit living in you and bringing evil thoughts into your heart, for, in the words of the Lord, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts – or good thoughts.

The good man thinks to himself in this wise: Every one who has strayed from the truth brings destruction on himself and is therefore to be pitied. But of course the man who has not learned the love of the Holy Spirit will not pray for his enemies. The man who has learned love from the Holy Spirit sorrows all his life over those who are not saved, and sheds abundant tears for the people, and the grace of God gives him strength to love his enemies.

Understand me. It is so simple. People who do not know God, or who go against Him, are to be pitied; the heart sorrows for them and the eye weeps. Both paradise and torment are clearly visible to us: We know this through the Holy Spirit. And did not the Lord Himself say, “The kingdom of God is within you”? Thus eternal life has its beginning here in this life; and it is here that we sow the seeds of eternal torment.

Where there is pride there cannot be grace, and if we lose grace we also lose both love of God and assurance in prayer. The soul is then tormented by evil thoughts and does not understand that she must humble herself and love her enemies, for there is no other way to please God.

What shall I render unto Thee, O Lord, for that Thou hast poured such great mercy on my soul? Grant, I beg Thee, that I may see my iniquities, and ever weep before Thee, for Thou art filled with love for humble souls, and dost give them the grace of the Holy Spirit.

O merciful God, forgive me. Thou seest how my soul is drawn to Thee, her Creator. Thou hast wounded my soul with Thy love, and she thirsts for Thee, and wearies without end, and day and night, insatiable, reaches toward Thee, and has no wish to look upon this world, though I do love it, but above all I love Thee, my Creator, and my soul longs after Thee.

O my Creator, why have I, Thy little creature, grieved Thee so often? Yet Thou hast not remembered my sins.

Glory be to the Lord God that He gave us His Only-begotten Son for the sake of our salvation. Glory be to the Only-begotten Son that He deigned to be born of the Most Holy Virgin, and suffered for our salvation, and gave us His Most Pure Body and Blood to eternal life, and sent His Holy Spirit on the earth.

O Lord, grant me tears to shed for myself, and for the whole universe, that the nations may know Thee and live eternally with Thee, O Lord, vouchsafe us the gift of Thy humble Holy Spirit, that we may apprehend Thy glory.