Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Christmas Lump of Clay

Christmas Lump of Clay

Preparing for Holy Nativity, we ask God, who has done the extraordinary things with the ordinary, what may His purpose, His intention, be for us?

Even so, everything is done with our consent. The whole of the nativity story told over the weeks before the Holy Nativity are filled with the confrontation of God's plan and human consent.

"He calls us to be more of what we are," says Fr. John Brian. With our permission, He forms us into the true being we were created to be.

Romans 9:21 "Does not the potter have the power over his clay..." We consent to be that lump of clay. The best form is already present. It only needs to be brought forward, revealed. It is the best person we can be.

Mary is given an impossible idea - a virgin to give birth. It is a confrontation with an incredible notion: God will bring about the restoration of divinity in all of His creation through the consent of a young woman.

"Nothing is impossible for God," says Archangel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke. Mary responds as a lump of clay, "Here I am...let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38)

Please pray for Fr. John Brian who continues to encourage us in the continuing development of Christian spirituality.

This sermon uses and refers to scripture readings appointed by the Syrian Malankara calendar and was given on Sunday, November 24, 2013 by Fr. John-Brian Paprock at Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Mission Chapel, Madison, Wisconsin.

Please pray for our mission and help us as you are able.

PODCAST OR DOWNLOAD: http://feeds.feedburner.com/frjohnbrian or
http://frjohnbrian.hipcast.com/rss/spiritual_reflections_or_fr_john_brian.xml
LISTEN ON-LINE HERE:


Saturday, December 07, 2013

Ready to Listen

Ready to Listen

Preparing for Holy Nativity with Story of Zechariah, the father of St. John the Baptist (as recorded in Luke Chapter 1), are we listening?

In Holy Orthodoxy, the rules and fasts are not meant to create an atmosphere of failure. Rather, it is an understanding of our limits and knowledge that God does not have our limitations.

The rituals and festivals of Holy Orthodoxy are intended to bring us closer to God.

"We are limited," says Fr. John Brian in this sermon, "but God calls us beyond our limits - nothing beyond our ability to move closer to God."

Fr. John Brian also examines the ability of Zachariah to listen to the angel who visited him. Zachariah could only hear the news through all his limitations. We need to listen to the urgings of God outside these limitations - for with God all things are possible.

Please pray for Fr. John Brian who continues to encourage us in the continuing development of Christian spirituality.

This sermon uses and refers to scripture readings appointed by the Syrian Malankara calendar and was given on Sunday, November 17, 2013 by Fr. John-Brian Paprock at Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Mission Chapel, Madison, Wisconsin.

Please pray for our mission and help us as you are able.

PODCAST OR DOWNLOAD: http://feeds.feedburner.com/frjohnbrian or
http://frjohnbrian.hipcast.com/rss/spiritual_reflections_or_fr_john_brian.xml
LISTEN ON-LINE HERE: