Thoughts on the Fast…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment
What we gain from fasting does not compensate for what we lose through anger. Our profit from scriptural reading in no way equals the damage we cause ourselves by showing contempt for a brother. We must practice fasting, vigils, withdrawal, and the meditation of Scripture as activities which are subordinate to our main objective, purity of heart, that is to say, love, and we must never disturb this principal virtue for the sake of those others. If this virtue remains whole and unharmed within us nothing can injure us, not even if we are forced to omit any of those other subordinate virtues. Nor will it be of any use to have practiced all these latter if there is missing in us that principal objective for the sake of which all else is undertaken.
 

Wise Thoughts…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

O strange and inconceivable thing! We did not really die, we were 
not really buried, we were not really crucified and raised again, 
but our imitation was but a figure, while our salvation is in 
reality. Christ was actually crucified, and actually buried, and 
truly rose again; and all these things have been vouchsafed to us, 
that we, by imitation communicating in His sufferings, might gain 
salvation in reality. O surpassing loving-kindness! Christ 
received the nails in His undefiled hands and feet, and endured 
anguish; while to me without suffering or toil, by the fellowship 
of His pain He vouchsafed salvation. 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, On the Christian Sacraments.

Good Words…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

Anger is by nature designed for waging war with the demons and for struggling with every kind of sinful pleasure. Therefore angels, arousing spiritual pleasure in us and giving us to taste its blessedness, incline us to direct our anger against the demons. But the demons, enticing us towards worldly lusts, make us use anger to fight with men, which is against nature, so that the mind, thus stupefied and darkened, should become a traitor to virtues.

Abba Evagrius the Monk

Wise words…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

It is not only sin that is terrifying, but also the despair and defection bred by sin. Isaac the Syrian has this to say concerning such a condition: ‘Have no fear, even though you fall daily; do not abandon prayer; stand up courageously, and the angel who watches over you will honor your patience.’ Let us recall the words of Christ in such cases, ‘Go and sin no more.’ And that is all–no curses, no excommunications. We must not submit to the evil spirit of dejection that seeks to draw us ever deeper into sin. Again and again, we must fall at Christ’s feet, again and again He will accept us.

+Fr. Alexander Elchaninov, The Diary of a Russian Priest

Bars Make Me Sad…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

they just do. I love playing music. I enjoy being with friends. Yet if that entitles being at a bar it doesn’t take very long before the air feels heavy and the whole thing seems like a waste of time. I want to play but why should I entertain you as you’re killing brain cells and pretending you’re happy? Music is great but is it that good when it’s all about helping people whizz their life away? Every time I drop in to one to get some stage time I always promise myself “Never again” and I feel like I need to just sit in church for a couple of hours to get the bad juju off my body. The question seems to be how to be present in such places for all the right reasons without getting any of the smell, as it were, on me. I haven’t figured that out yet.

I'm Watching Something Burn…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

from my kitchen window, something I made in Middle School, something I hung on to all these years because I wanted to prove a point. I wanted to prove that I could make things. I wanted to prove that I was a survivor. I wanted to prove I was good enough.

So I kept that tiny little shelf I made in shop class, the one the teacher wasn’t so crazy about but ended up outlasting him. Times have changed. I have changed. God has forgiven and strengthened and made whole. Mistakes? I’ve made them. Struggles? Sure. Yet by the grace of God I am not who I used to be and while I’m a long way away from perfect I know that if I keep my eyes on Jesus I’m heading in the right direction.

So I started a fire this morning. A fire of sacrifice. For a while it has burned passionately and as it was I offered to God everything that was behind, pains, hurts, resentments, sins, everything, like that shelf, I may have kept close to me all these years. It was a bright, hot, and swirling fire.

But now the flames are only consuming the small remnants, the heat is gone for the most part and soon there will only be some quiet smoke drifting through the yard and into space. By the grace of God I am who I am and I refuse, with the same passionate stubbornness that made me keep that shelf, to let what Christ has died for and forgiven rule over me any more.

I have places to go, things to do, a mission to accomplish, and I’m tired of burning daylight…

Imagine…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

a Bishop of the Church willing to stand in front of his people and speak about his struggles and how he wants to work to overcome them and help his community become better. Very impressed with Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America. Imagine what our Lord could do with twelve such men…

 

Wisdom…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

“Should we look to kings and princes to put right the inequalities between rich and poor? Should we require soldiers to come and seize the rich person’s gold and distribute it among his destitute neighbors? Should we beg the emperor to impose a tax on the rich so great that it reduces them to the level of the poor and then to share the proceeds of that tax among everyone? Equality im­posed by force would achieve nothing, and do much harm. Those who combined both cruel hearts and sharp minds would soon find ways of making themselves rich again. Worse still, the rich whose gold was taken away would feel bitter and resentful; while the poor who received the gold from the hands of soldiers would feel no gratitude, because no generosity would have prompted the gift. Far from bringing moral benefit to society, it would actually do moral harm. Material justice cannot be accomplished by compulsion, a change of heart will not follow. The only way to achieve true justice is to change people’s hearts first—and then they will joyfully share their wealth.” St. John Chrysostom

For Your Consderation…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

I just finished doing a program for the Seniors where I work entitled “Scams 101”  and I thought it good to share some information with a wider audience. In this season when charities come calling perhaps the most important thing to know is that no reputable charitable organization will be afraid of providing financial information or will try to discourage you from doing appropriate research on them or their mission. If they’re not willing to open their books or show you what they do and how they spend their time and money be suspicious.