June 11-14, the Parish of Saint Basil in Stockton will host events before receiving the holy relic of our Patron and Intercessor, Saint Basil the Great! June 11, and June 13, lectures will be given by Dr. James Skedros, on the life of Saint Basil the Great, the Role of Relics in the Christian Church, and how they apply to 21st Century life. All are invited to attend the lectures, if you are planning on bringing a group to any or all of the events, please contact our church office, 209-478-7564, so that appropriate arrangement may be made to accommodate your group.
Controversial scientist, Panayiotis Zavos, a Cypriot with fertility clinics in both Cyprus and the United Sates, has made claims that he has cloned human embryos and implanted them into four women—with the intent to produce cloned human beings. Main-stream science lacks an acceptance of Dr. Zavos’ claims as they are rarely substantiated with evidence. Yet, the mere pursuit of such work requires attention and response.
The business of cloning human beings is a prospect which is beyond dangerous, let alone ethical. Rather than,‘Can we?” ...the question must be, “Should we?” Although modern science classifies human beings as a mammal animal, there is a great difference between mankind and animals which is witnessed and experience in the realms of both good and bad. Mankind, created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), is given a soul and free choice by The Creator, our Father in Heaven. With these Divine gifts, mankind has the ability and responsibility to make choices that not only affect themselves but also others. The Good: A doctor choosing to treat a patient, a friend choosing to comfort another, a farmer choosing to produce and share food with others, a mother choosing to embrace her child, etc. The Bad: An criminal choosing to deal drugs, a thief choosing to mug an elderly woman, a businessman choosing to exploit others, a husband choosing to neglect his family, an individual choosing to abuse a child, etc. With free-choice, a gift only given to mankind, a responsibility binds man to act in a way that is beneficial to himself and others; this responsibility is our morality, which for Christians is built upon the Word of God, and taught through His Church. To voluntarily turn away from this responsibility is an affront to God, as it spites the gift of free-choice, by utilizing it in a way that is unbefitting to Him. To facilitate, not only the immorality of others, but to create a new existence of fo-humans, not created in the image and likeness of God, soulless, and lacking God’s gifts and blessings - goes well beyond immorality into a new realm of ego-fueled damnation.
Within God’s creation, animals, which do not possess God’s gift of free-choice; dogs, cats, buffalo, snakes, and every other living thing on earth other than man, function and act according to a natural instinct God provided them so that may live in an experience of healthy continuity which is commonly referred to as a ‘circle of life.’ If the world is introduced to a living creation that does not have this natural instinct, and does not have free-choice guided by morality, the results will be disastrous, as this new creation will be bound by nothing. Soulless, lacking instinct and morality, this created being, will metaphorically manifest the on screen zombie depictions of a mass with no purpose but to consume aimlessly and destructively.
Dr. Zavos, and all others who seek what will ultimately bring this end, is called to repent, and change their focus from developing this age of destruction, to something more befitting the morality and responsibility of one created by God. Dr. Zavos has been blessed with the first name, Panayiotis; literally meaning All-Holy, and referring to the the Virgin Mary. The Panagia (All-Holy Virgin Mary) is the one through whom the Light came into the world—how sad that one who has been blessed as her namesake is seeking to be the one who escorts an age of grave darkness into the world! Dr. Zahos is a Cypriot, how sad that a man who has witness and perhaps experienced such oppression and persecution, as the island of Cyprus, since the 1974 invasion, is partially occupied and oppressed by the Muslim country of Turkey, seeks to invite an oppression upon the humanity of God’s creation.
I pray that Dr. Vahos and his colleagues repent! I pray that our political leaders will have the foresight to not further politicize these types of ‘science,’ and will take a stand to prevent the continuance of these abominations! I pray that you will join my prayers, and together we ask that our Lord have mercy upon our souls!
Two days ago, I watched a documentary movie, narrated by the entertainer Madonna, named, ‘I Am Because We Are.’ The movie documents the environment, status and experience of children in the African country of Malawi. In watching this movie, I felt a range of emotions that border on indescribable—as my psyche hesitates from allowing recognition of such atrocities, especially to God’s most holy children. One child shared with the world is a boy named Luka, who as a young boy was the victim of an inhumane act, where individuals attacked him, stealing his innocence and his ability to ever father a child—all so that a witchcraft ritual may be had. I have shed two days worth of tears for this poor child of God. The only consolation that I can hope for, is the assurance that Jesus Christ will restore him when he enters into the Kingdom of God. I pray that miraculously He may restore Luka in this world, as He restored the High Priest’s slave’s ear in the Garden of Gesthemene. Firstly through prayer, but secondly, I search for a way that I may help this beautiful child and all other innocent souls who are so maliciously wronged in this world. Please join me in praying for Luka, an living to find ways to show God’s love to these pure and beautiful children of God.
If you are interested, more information about this film may be seen at http://www.iambecauseweare.com
May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as the Just Judge, heal all those in pain due to the brokenness of this world, and the inhumanity of those living in it.
Christ is Risen! Thanks be to God that many of our GOA parishes have graduated from a legalistic experience of ‘paying dues,’ to a grace-filled experience of Christian Stewardship. Through education, many parish experiences of Stewardship are growing from a pledging system into the spiritual and intimate experience of authentic Christian Stewardship! In case any are unaware as to what Christian Stewardship is all about, please read this article about a little boy who embodied Christian Stewardship! May his memory be eternal!
The first half of Holy Week, in the evenings, we celebrate and pray the Bridegroom Services—delivering to us the message of vigilance in our focus on Jesus Christ. What a beautiful message as we embark upon the intense pilgrimage which leads to the celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection. I pray that we take this message and apply it, not only to the remaining services during Holy Week, but perhaps more importantly, that we apply this focus to our daily living, staying vigilant to extend the love of God to those around us. May our Lord grant us strength on this journey. Kali Anastasi!
On my way in to Church for the first of the Bridegroom Services, I witnessed a less than stellar example of integrity and dignity. I pulled into the gas station connivence store, which is less than a mile from my home, to pick up a bottle of Gatorade. As I pulled in to one of the many open parking spaces, I looked to my right and saw two individuals in a old truck that looked as if it had seen better days. Another individual, a man in his 40’s, obviously with the people in the truck, walked up to the driver’s window, handed the driver something in a brown bag, then proceed to urinate on the gas station parking lot. As I walked across the front of their truck, making sure to be out of ‘splash distance,’ I made eye contact with the people in the truck, who gave me a look as if I was the one who was acting indecent.
The clerk of the gas station was watching from the window by his register as the man was finishing his public urination. I motioned outside, and suggested that he may want to have that hosed off—no response.
Then as I was exiting out the front door of the store, a group of 3 or 4 entered. I am a tall man, and when one of the group, a young man with a mouth full of fake gold teeth, saw me, he referenced my height with a string of explicit fragment statements that suggested he had never finished an educational journey through public school.
What an experience! What’s wrong with people?
Remember, the power and essence of Christianity is HOPE. Hope that there is something better—in eternity, in this world, in our towns, in individuals, and in ourselves! During this journey of Holy Week, join me in praying for the ignorant and abhorrent, that they are somehow be affected with the desire to transform, and that we recognize the ways that we may be ignorant and abhorrent in our own lives—and turn it to repentance.
Due to incidents which occurred on President Barak Obama’s recent trip to Europe and the Middle East, the topic of ‘separation of church & state,’ already popular in these post-modern times, is being offered again in news forums. Having grown up in the United States, and received a public education through High School, I am well familiar with the term ‘separation of church & state,’ as it is commonly referred to, framed, and offered as a doctrine of our country’s founding fathers—suggesting emphatically that the government may have no relationship with church. Although this common presentation & understanding is prevalent in our society, an experience a few years ago left me questioning this understanding… and in turn has forced me to question the presentation and its sources.
On June 21, 2006, I was given the great privilege, at the request of my then Congressman, Richard Pombo, to offer the opening prayer at the United States House of Representatives, in Washington D.C.. After humbly offering the morning prayer in our Nation’s Capital, I thought back to the mentality that I had been taught on the subject of ‘separation of church & state,’ and began to see a discrepancy. We are to have no relation between church and state, yet we begin the political day with prayer? After offering the prayer, I was given tours in a few specific areas of our Nation’s Capital, and was astounded by the numerous references and supplications offered to God through out the Capital by the founding fathers, and generations which followed them. Something is a amiss.
Referencing documents, rather than individuals’ interpretations of them, the separation of church and state is an interpretive principle, turned both legal and political, derived from the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” The First Amendment, a living document in that it is to be respected in its essential message and not bastardized to correlate with an individualized agenda, establishes that Congress shall not make any laws which establish a religion, or prohibit anyone from practicing a religion—there is no rhetoric in the First Amendment which prohibits a relationship between church and state. On the contrary, many of the established mediums of the United States; currency, anthems, pledges, artwork, architecture, political protocol, etc, etc, all relay the living experience established by our Nation’s founders, now surviving a pluralistic establishment, which reference not only an allowance, but an insistence of recognizing God in and through our Nation’s life.
This reality is further solidified by a message contained in a letter from Benjamin Franklin to George Washington, in which he develops the recognition of our nation’s dependency on God, and requests that the Continental Congress begin with prayer. It was a delight to see that an elected official, Rep. K. Michael Conaway of Texas, referred to this letter on the open floor of Congress in recent years.
Why is it that a mentality which removes a relationship between the church and government has now become prevalent, brainwashing past, present, and quite possibly future generations from the mindset and values of our Nation’s beginnings? Our Nation’s first President, President George Washington spoke to this in his farewell address on September 17, 1796:
“Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
The words of this great Patriot inspire a goodness, and recognition of hope in something greater than ourselves guiding us as we forge ahead as a nation. I lament that it has been some years, if not decades, since such wisdom, let alone rhetoric, has been witnessed from platforms of public office in the United States.
In closing, may these inspiring, and authentically unifying words of President George Washington, inspire, mold, and direct a mindset of our current President Barak Obama, and all future leaders of these United States.
The President of the United States, Barak Obama, has completed a well publicized trip to Europe, including the country of Turkey. People of the Christian faith, and students of history alike, have expressed much sadness over the visit to Constantinople, now commonly referred to as Istanbul - the link below, from a Catholic based website, describes the lament over the situation of the historic church, Agia Sofia (Holy Wisdom); how it is being referred to by ‘mainstream media (The Associated Press),’ and how ‘history’ is commonly rewritten in its modern presentation, to support a political agenda or environment.
http://vivificat1.blogspot.com/2009/04/hagia-sophia-called-symbol-of.html
The celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection is the greatest celebration of the Church; therefore, as we have been preparing through the Triodion Period, and Great Lent, perhaps we have not been thinking about the monumental blessing being bestowed upon the Archdiocese, the Metropolis of San Francisco, and the Parish of Saint Basil; we are receiving a relic of Saint Basil the Great! Four days of events will take place in celebration of this historic event, which brings a living piece of Christian History to Stockton,CA. Lectures offered by contemporary Orthodox Theologians, a Byzantine Music Concert, Akathist to Saint Basil the Great service, and multiple receptions, are just a few of the offers that the Saint Basil community will extend to all in celebration of this historic event. Keep your eyes and ears open for further developments in the scheduling of this chapter in Christian History!
Remember—Kids Like to Stay Up Late!
prior to 7:00 pm Day Full of Anticipation (fueled and supported by parents)
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Nap Time
9:00 pm - 10:15 pm Preparation Time
10:15 pm - 11:00 pm Commute
11:00 pm Early Arrival at Church
This is the schedule I remember from childhood, on each and every Holy Saturday, as we prepared for the midnight service, to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
My parents struggled each evening throughout the year to get me to go to bed at a prescribed time. Being the youngest, I typically thought I knew what was best, especially when it came to my own interests, and bed-time was a particular area of concern. I tried to bargain for any and all opportunities to stay up late, and remember a few victories along the way; however, as the years have passed, I don’t remember the reasons for any of the negotiations. Was it a late showing of the Wizard of Oz, perhaps Oregon State University was playing an evening game that went into overtime, or were we visiting with family or friends into the late hours? I don’t remember.
What I do remember, down to the day’s schedule, was when I was encouraged to stay up late, even given a nap ahead of time to support the late hours, so that I could experience the Resurrection service, Holy Saturday evening. My parents took the natural will of a child, to stay up late, and used it to teach me an important lesson—my presence at the Resurrection service, and receiving Holy Communion on Pascha is important and a priority! I can not remember ever missing a Resurrection Service past my toddler years. Even if I was asleep in the pew next to my mother, I was there, and the lesson was learned. I don’t believe that at 7 years old, I understood the service, but what I understand now is that my parents taught me the importance of the Resurrection, because even though it must have been difficult on them; putting a child to sleep early, waking them up, getting 4 kids dressed, climbing into the car, and driving 40 minutes to Church for a midnight service—they made it happen, and in retrospect, showed me how much they loved me, by making Christ, and His Resurrection an exceptional priority in my life.
I eagerly anticipate to see the fruits of such loving parenting at Saint Basil’s later this month as we celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection, beginning at 11:15 pm, April 18, Holy Saturday. Make the Resurrection of our Lord an exception and a priority in the life of your family—as God has made you a priority in His.
Thank you mom and dad, and to all of the faithful at Saint Basil’s, Kali Anastasi!