WE ARE EXTENDING THE DEADLINE FOR JOURNAL ENTRIES SINCE WE ARE STILL RECEIVING THEM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST AND BLESSINGS!
WE ARE STILL IN NEED OF DONATIONS FOR THE RENOVATIONS. SO PLEASE TAKE THE TIME AND BE AS GENEROUS AS YOU CAN TO HELP KEEP ST. JOHN'S A VIABLE COMMUNITY FOR TODAY AND THE FUTURE.
THE GREEK DANCE CLASS ON WEDNESDAY HAS CONCLUDED FOR THE SUMMER AND WILL RESUME ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2019.
BIBLE STUDY ON THURSDAY WILL BE IN SESSION DURING MOST OF THE SUMMER. PLEASE CALL THE CHURCH OR ASK ANYONE AT THE CANDLE STAND FOR INFORMATION.
IF YOU HAVE NOT SENT IN THIS YEAR'S STEWARDSHIP PLEASE DO THAT TODAY.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
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THE ELEVATION OF MAN!
In many Gospel passages, we read accounts of Jesus performing miraculous healings. Many of them have to do with physical deformities and others that are hidden as a result of being born into this fallen world. Furthermore, the closer one looks into all these healings, one realizes that there are far more associated with the healing of the soul than the body. Does this mean that Jesus is trying to tell us that the soul is more important than the body? Can we surmise from this that we can discard the body like trash as some like to think today? Has modernity picked up on what the ancient Greek thinkers have professed for centuries? This heretical perception became a battleground for many of the Church Fathers, but one in particular St. Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), saw the flaw in this ancient belief.
For him, the body, soul, and spirit, are what makes us human and is what God created us to be. This is what you can call a “composite” being. To demonstrate this fact you must read the “Prayer When the Soul Desires Release From the Body.” We read this prayer for those who are seriously ill and there is no hope of recovery. It goes on to say: “ . . . So that this evil should not last forever, in Your love, as God of our Fathers, You ordained that this compounding and mingling, this unbreakable bond, should by Your divine will be severed and dissolved: that the soul should make its way to where it had its origin to await the common resurrection, while the body returns to the elements out of which it was composed.”
“Man’s soul, according to the teaching of Palamas and of the Orthodox tradition, is not held captive within the body as it strives for release, as the Platonists taught. In fact, the contrary is true: so harmonious is its attachment to the body that it never wishes to leave it, nor does it do so unless sickness or some other external force attacks it. By virtue of this loving relationship of soul to the body, that which is ‘in the image’ is dynamically involved with the entire man, yet without being a compound of physical and spiritual elements. In this way, Palamas approaches and sets out in his teaching the tradition, elaborated in particular by Irenaeus, according to which the ‘image’ applies to the whole man, body, and soul.”
Furthermore, Palamas comes to the conclusion that humanity, because of this unity of body and soul, is superior to the angels and he states it very clearly: “Among many other things one would say that the triadic nature of our knowledge shows that we are more in the image of God than are the angels. For not only is it triadic, but it includes every type of knowledge. Among all created things only man possesses an intellective, a rational, and a sensory faculty.”
So to say that the soul is superior to the body for Palamas is a heresy, and to discard it like garbage is false teaching. Christ’s body was glorified by the Father after His resurrection. He did not appear as a ghost or spirit but was transformed and elevated His human nature. He walked through walls, but sat and eat with His disciples. Because of this, we are able to reach Theosis (deification) here on earth and unit our whole being with the Divine. This is the goal of human existence, says Palamas, as the doxastikon at the Feast of the Annunciation declares: "Adam of old was deceived: wanting to be God he failed to be God. God becomes man, so that He may make Adam god."
Finally, it is only through our Lord and Savior’s entrance into this world as a human being that we can realize what a miraculous gift He has given humanity, the ability to become gods made in the “image and likeness” of our Creator. This is our true calling. So as a result, do not look to creation for the creator as many have done throughout the ages. However, look to the Creator and obtain the virtues which will move our unperfected selves toward perfection and union (Theosis) with Him. This is not only a spiritual perfection but also a physical one. Since the body is honored by Him who created humanity to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.