|
JOINT BIBLE STUDY
OF HOLY TRINITY ORTHODOX CHURCH AND
CHRIST THE SAVIOR ORTHODOX CHURCH, HERNANDO COUNTY, FL
Fr.
Michael Shuster, Host & Administrator – Fr. Stanley S. Harakas,
Presenter
Preliminary Reflection 3
Communing with the Source of Life
October
7, 2004
Opening Prayer Psalm 69
O God, be
attentive to helping me; O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be
ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back
and brought to shame, those who desire evils against me. Let them be
turned back straightway in shame that say to me: Well done! Well done!
Let them be glad and rejoice in You all that seek after You, O God, and
let them that love Your salvation say continually: The Lord be
magnified. But as for me, I am poor and needy; O God, come to my aid.
My helper and my deliverer are You, O Lord; make no long tarrying. Amen.
Text: Of Life
and Salvation: Reflections on Living the Christian Life- Based on the
Fourteen Scripture Readings of the Orthodox Christian Church’s Sacrament
of Holy Unction. (Minneapolis: Light and Life Publishing Co., 1996,
pp. 9-14.
The Three Passages – John 6:53-58
53”Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54he who
eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him
up at the last day. 55For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood
is drink indeed. 56He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
abides in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father sent me, and I
live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.
58This is the bread which came down from heaven . . . he who
eats this bread will live for ever.”
Matthew 26:28
“Drink of it all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is
poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”
1 Corinthians 11:26
“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the
Lord’s death until he comes.”
Outline of Reflection 3
A. In the
Bible we find at least three important verses that speak to us about the
importance of Holy Communion for our Christian life.
1) the living
practice of our Faith (“unless you eat. . .you have no life in
you”;
2) our eternal
destiny because “This is the bread which came down from heaven. . .he
who eats this bread will live for ever” (Jn. 6:58); and
3) a promise
regarding the quality of our Christian life. He who eats. . .abides in
me and I in him”.
B. Being a
Christian requires that we receive Holy Communion on a regular basis
-frequently.. . Frequent Holy Communion keeps us united with Christ –
1) “Forgiveness of
sins” (Mat. 26:28). “If we sin regularly and frequently, we need
forgiveness regularly and frequently.”
2) It doesn’t make
sense to be a Christian and not want to be in union with Christ.
3) Proclaiming
Christ- In each Divine Liturgy we proclaim and affirm the great truth
that Jesus Christ died and was resurrected to give humanity new life
in the Kingdom of God. Receiving Holy Communion makes the
proclamation!
C. Right
and Wrong Traditions.
1) Early
teaching and practice: “As for the question of frequency . . . for
communion the older norm is daily availability.”
2) The Apostolic
Canons condemn those who “come in and hear the Scriptures, but do not
stay for the prayers and the Holy Communion.”
3) The Godbearing
Fathers expect Christians to receive frequently. St. Nikodemos of the
Holy Mountain: “‘With the fear of God, faith and love draw near.’ We
shall prove from scriptural and patristic witnesses that it is necessary
for the faithful and Orthodox Christians to receive the Body and Blood
of our Lord frequently throughout our lives, so long as there is no
objection from our spiritual father, and that frequent Communion
produces great benefits for the soul and body; while delaying this, on
the contrary, produces many harmful and destructive results.” This is
the “Big T” Tradition.
D. The
“traditions of men” are “minuscule ‘t’ traditions that say “somehow it
is more reverent, pious, and Christian, to receive Holy Communion
infrequently, than to receive Holy Communion on a frequent and regular
basis!”
E.
Receiving Holy Communion Worthily: faith; living with commitment; no
major sins – Holy Confession.
Receiving worthily
means precisely that we know we are always unworthy. Holy Communion
is a gift that is designed to help us in our struggle to follow Christ.
F. A
legitimate concern- Communion becoming a routine habit.
1) Fight that:
prepare our hearts, minds, feelings, and bodies to become hospitable
places for Christ to enter.
2) A few
guidelines: a) do not eat before coming to Holy Communion (the question
of medications); b) abstain from sexual relations the night before; c)
we try to keep our emotions quiet and calm to receive Christ’s Body and
Blood within us; d) strengthen our relationship with Christ by praying
more intensely; e) seek to heal our relationships with other people.
3) Are You
Prepared? Look inwardly a) The Christians in Corinth: “Whoever,
therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup in an unworthy manner will
be guilty of profaning the body and blood of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:27). b)
A spirit of reverence and a question of conscience, not rules.
G. The high
school graduate and the grandmother: “Is a dance a genuinely positive
way to prepare a person to discern the body of the Lord? Highly
unlikely.” Divine Liturgy: “With (reverent and awe-filled) fear of
God, faith, and love, draw near!
Break
Personal Reflection by Venice Cosmadelis
Group Discussion
Other Members’ Personal Reflections
Last Week’s Motto: “SLrrJw”
(And Joy) Formulation of new Weekly Motto
prayer
Before Reading Scripture
Illumine our hearts,
O Master who loves humankind, with the pure light of Your divine
knowledge, and open the eyes of our mind to understand Your Gospel
teachings; implant in us also the reverence for Your blessed
commandments, that trampling down all sinful desires, we may enter upon
a spiritual manner of living, both thinking and doing those things as
please You. For You are the illumination of our souls and bodies, O
Christ our God, and to You we ascribe glory together with Your eternal
Father and Your all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever,
and to ages of ages. Amen
The First Epistle: James 5:14-16
Is Any Among You Sick?
14Is any among you sick? Let him call for
the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with
oil in the name of the Lord; 15and the prayer of faith will save
the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed
sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one
another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of
a righteous man has great power in its effects.
Home
Ecumenical
Patriarchate + Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America + Diocese of Atlanta
|
