The God Eaters

 

(If you do not want to read you can watch it here:onYouTube)

There is an aspect of the Jewish Passover that is often overlooked or even misunderstood by Christians who interpret it in relation to Jesus Christ. Also, I would be bold to say that even for some modern Jewish people who celebrate the Passover there are some things that I’m about to say that they have probably never been heard.

 In order to understand the Passover, we have to understand the full context in which it was given. As it says in Exodus 12:12 its part of a judgment on all the gods of Egypt. You will find that each  plague were  judgments on the different deities of the Egyptians. The judgment of Passover was on the lamb god Khnum. He was Egypt’s most dominant god before the rise of the sun god Ra, considered the god of fertility Sometimes Khnum was represented as a man with a ram’s head, and it was also believed to have created the first human beings from clay, like a potter, I will talk more about him later. For now, I wanted to set the context that the Passover was a judgment on a god.

This often brings up the question does the bible teach there were other gods? It does but not in the way we tend to think. We tend to use the word God as the ultimate power. You will find in the scriptures that there is a chief God, who is not created, and lesser beings called gods (Elohim) that he created, sometimes we call them angels, but the bible calls them sons. This is referred to by scholars as the Divine Council.  As it says in Psalm 82 god created other divine beings out of love to govern the world. These beings abused their power and in the psalm god judges these beings. He says he makes them die like men. This is exactly what takes place in the plagues. In every plague the creator God is slaying his children, he is doing so by destroying their domain that corresponds to their spiritual rule and in the final plague he not only destroys the domain he gives the seat of power over to someone else.

 Going back now to Khnum, he was responsible for the children of the land, his domain was fertility, and being the chief deity at the time the pharaoh was his representative. So, when Moses told the pharaoh if you don’t let my firstborn son go, the children of Israel, he was going to kill Khnum’s firstborn, the firstborn children of Egypt. God in effect was going to make a killing blow to the spiritual rule that Khnum had over the people of Egypt. He was going to end his domain, but he wouldn’t be doing this alone for he was going to be using his people.

It’s not by chance that the Israelites were told to use a lamb. Khnum was a lamb and being that his cult was prominent lambs were symbols of his presence. This is one of the reasons why you will read in the bible that shepherds were an offence to the Egyptians. As a symbol God would use it in his judgment against Khnum. The Israelites were to ritual consume this god and put its blood on their doorposts a sign of this gods destruction. When the angel, that was bringing judgment against Khnum’s domain, saw this blood. It wasn’t a sign to just merely protect the people inside, it was an invocation to finish the job. In essence, it was a priestly act by the people in the home that singled the destruction of Khnum’s domain

The Passover since this time, and every time it is celebrated, is an ordination ceremony.  It makes people priests of the most-high God. It does so not just by God letting the people eating it participate in the act of Judgment. It does so by making the people eating the god, gods themselves. They ritualistically killed a god, by consuming it, and by doing this took on its attributes. In this case its place in the world. God gave the people eating it the place that this god had in the Divine Council. As mentioned in psalm 82, these gods abused their role. They were supposed to lead people into the worship of the Most High and instead, they had people worship them. The newly ordained people would take up that role in leading the nations into the worship of the Most High. This is why God said to those who eat this Passover you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. As priests, as a holy nation, their priesthood is to lead, and still is, to lead the whole world to God.

This context is essential for understanding the new Passover that Jesus had started. He makes himself the new lamb god to be consumed. The difference is that this lamb God would freely give his life. He freely gave his attributes over in his Passover meal, the holy Eucharist. He was also innocent, unlike Khnum. He did not deserve to die, but chose to give his life so we can have what he is, so we can share  his divinity, but in terms of his divinity he was not just some created god like Khnum, he has no beginning or end.  Also, unlike the Khnum, whose place in the divine council was usurped by those who ate him, Jesus freely shared his place in the divine council which is being Lord over it, making us true sons of the most high.

The new Passover, the Eucharist, like the old is our ordination ceremony. We become as the Apostle Peter said a kingdom of priests and like with the first Passover we have a calling to bring the whole world to God. However, unlike the first Passover who invoked God's judgment against other gods by the blood of the lamb, we become that judgment. When we ritualistically consume the body and blood of Jesus  we become what he is,God, and as gods we become a sign of the end to whatever powers that rule this. We become a sign that the kingdom of God is here.

Why is Peter Called Rock?

 (Formally a Homily for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul)              Matthew 16:13-16

In the gospel today our lord asked an important question to his apostles:” Who am I?”. They all gave various answers, but Peter stood up and proclaimed that our Lord was the Messiah, the son of the living God. In response, our Lord told Peter that he was a rock and that he was going to build his Church upon that rock

In the Catholic Church this is one of the few sections of scripture that our bishops have given a binding definition. Catholics are required to believe that this is when Peter was given the authority to be the first Pope. Even though this is true the problem with making this emphasis is that we sometimes miss the greater meaning behind why Peter was given this authority, a meaning that is central to our Byzantine tradition.

Before our Lord Jesus gave Peter his authority, he brought the apostles to an interesting place. They were on a mountain filled with pagan temples and shrines. This mountain was considered by the ancient Hebrew people as the origin of all the demonic activity in the world. It was also known to the pagans in that region as the gate to the underworld, the gate to Hades. When Peter made his proclamation to our Lord, “You are the Son of God” our Lord’s response was in the context of the environment. They were on a mountain with a pagan temple and our Lord was telling Peter you are going to be a mountain that I’m going to build my temple upon.

Going further into the context, imagine how the ancient Hebrews understood this place. Imagine these pagan temples on this mountain as places for real demonic beings. How do you think those beings felt when our Lord made his proclamation to Peter. It was basically an act of war. He was telling them that their time was up and that his new temple the Church is going to prevail against them.  Consider the image of our Lord pointing his finger at the pagan temple that was called the gate to their domain, the gate to Hades, to the place where those who wielded the power of death over us and saying, “I’m going to take your power away”.

In one of his writings that we have in scripture Peter was reflecting upon the events of what happened when they were at the gates of Hades. Now with greater context because of our Lord’s resurrection. He said that when Christ died, he went through that gate to the underworld, to the place of the prison of the false gods, the fallen angels, and proclaimed to them that they are defeated. Their defeat came by what he was going to do, which would be rising from their domain, death. In some of our Icons of the Resurrection you can get a glimpse of that. There is usually a man that looks beaten up and bound surrounded by broken fragments of a gate, the gate of Hades.

Our Church, which has its foundation on Peter, and Paul, whom we honor today, is how we will fulfill our Lord’s proclamation against the powers of darkness. These forces had power over this world through death. We belonged to those beings who dwell in hades because we die. As we know our Lord went to the place because he died but this time he surprised these forces because he was also God, and God does not die and that would be our way to be free from their domain because it is through his Church built by Peter that we would we have access to our Lord’s divinity.

In another one of his writings that we have in scripture Peter said that we have become partakers of the divine nature. Through the Church our Lord has given us the power to beat death by becoming gods, beings who experience immortality. This is happening right now in every Divine Liturgy; we are becoming what our Lord Jesus is as we worship him and the climax of this experience is when he will share his very nature with us, when we receive the Holy Eucharist, his body and blood. His body and blood will become our own body and blood and the evidence for this is that when we die we too, with our Lord, will proclaim the defeat of those beings who had power over us, for just like our Lord there will be a surprise instead of mere human beings these evil forces will encounter gods who will be resurrected.

An Introduction to Watchfulness (Nepsis)

 In my youth, I remember a night when I was coming home from a friend’s house. It was late and my senses were weak. About halfway home this song came on the radio and the lyrics that I heard from this song saved my life. They were “keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel”. When I heard this, I followed the instructions. It was difficult because I was tired, but I knew it was the right thing I needed to do to get home. Within seconds of this decision, a car just ahead of me began to spin across the road. Thankfully, I was ready, I was safely able to move around it. Those instructions I followed saved my life.

I’m sharing this story because you will find in it the Byzantine spiritual tradition called Watchfulness (Nepsis). Watchfulness is like driving a car. When you drive you need to keep your body in the right place and your mind attentive to your driving. If there is any lack in these 2 things your driving will not be efficient and possibly dangerous. For instance, have you ever started thinking deeply about something while driving? Sometimes miles will go by, and then you wonder how you got to where you were. It was as if you were on autopilot. This is not efficient for driving and sometimes it can be dangerous. This is also, as I will share, something that happens in prayer, something that the tradition of Watchfulness addresses.  

It’s important to keep in mind that this tradition of Watchfulness truly is like driving. Like driving, it involves the body and the mind. The vehicle for this driving is the experience of Jesus Christ. This driving can be expressed in various ways. In trying to keep this simple, I’m going to focus on one expression which is the tradition of saying the Jesus Prayer. The prayer is normally said in repetition with a breathing exercise. Normally, it’s taught that you breathe in as you are saying the first part of the prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, son of God) and exhale during the last part (Have mercy on me a sinner).  In this instance, the prayer is the car, the repetition is the work of the mind, and the breathing is the activity of the body. Keep in mind there is a harmony in these things. When we drive, we don’t split ourselves up.  Driving is one activity. It involves the vehicle, mind, and the body. Likewise, this is the case with Watchfulness and I’m now going to give some brief details on that.

I want to start these details by speaking about the mind. In doing this, I want to go back to the example that I gave about going on autopilot when driving. Sometimes when we pray we go on autopilot. This is not a good thing. The goal in Watchfulness as it is in driving is keeping the mind on the task at hand. In this case, thoughts, good or bad, are not to be engaged. I want to emphasize it's not wrong to think. What’s wrong is how or how much we think.  In driving we should be thinking about how we are going to drive around the next corner and that’s it. We should not be thinking about let’s say what we are going to have for dinner. When it comes to the mind with the Jesus Prayer the words in that prayer should be the only things we are thinking.

Now when it comes to the body this is sometimes a strange subject for people. It’s strange because we are not used to the idea that our bodies are made to experience God. As a result, we don’t think of our bodies in spiritual terms or believe that like the mind the body prays too. Just as it is with driving, how we use the body is essential for prayer. The goal in Watchfulness is keeping the body geared toward that vehicle of Christ. You literally keep that “hand upon the wheel” as with the lyric from that song. You will find that this can be done in various ways. In the example that I have been using the breathing exercise was the way to do that.

Going back to my original story. I was saved from a car accident by following the instructions that I heard from that song. Salvation is the goal of Watchfulness and what I’m sharing with you are simplified instructions given to us by the fathers of the Church. These fathers have shown us in numerous ways how we can at this very moment participate in the mystery of salvation, how we can experience God.  God wants to be experienced in everything that we are, and he doesn’t want to wait until the Last Judgment. God wants to be experienced right now! Remember, this experience of God is not meant to be complicated it can be as easy as driving a car.

Here is the youtube video of this topic: (click)  

Homily Against Toxic Masculinity

 Formally a Homily for the Sunday of all Saints

Matthew (10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30)

 

Today is the Feast of all the Saints and in the gospel our Lord Jesus teaches us about what it takes to be a Saint. He said that we should be confessing him before others. He said that we are to love him above everything else. He also ends his teachings by saying something very peculiar. He says, “The last will be first and the first will be last”.

If you look through the gospels, our Lord repeats this peculiar saying, this saying that’s necessary for becoming a Saint. You will find that he does so at times in order to contradict the worldview that people had.  The worldview at that time for many people was to basically “be like Hercules or you were good for nothing”. Hercules was a mythical figure that represented power and success and that was where people found their value and worth  For example, if you were disabled or unsuccessful in your endeavors you had no value to your tribe or society. In fact, depending on the circumstances, people in these categories were normally considered cursed by God

Unfortunately, this worldview continues today and like some of the god-fearing people that our Lord preached to, we are not immune from having this view. Thankfully, it’s really easy to recognize.  The moment that we start believing that we are better than another individual because of something we have accomplished or something we are successful in: we are guilty. There is nothing wrong with success or accomplishing things but when we start thinking or teaching that other people need to be like us to have value, we need to recall that the “last will be first”.

What our Lord was teaching against becomes even more destructive for religious people. If you recall our Lord, spoke about this directly when he taught us about the publican and the pharisee going into the temple. The pharisee was doing everything right and as he said he was not like the sinful publican, but the publican just sat in the temple saying, “Lord have mercy”. I’m sure God was very happy at the pharisee for doing all the good things that he was doing but it became sinful when he started thinking he had more value to God than the sinful publican.

There is a good story that I heard, its about how God considers our worth and value. There was this man who was a successful athlete. He made a lot of money and had a big family. However, one day he got in a horrible accident and became a paraplegic. Eventually, he ended up trying to take his own life. After his attempt, his family priest came to visit him in the hospital. He ended up telling his priest that he did not want to live because he no longer felt like a man due to the fact that his wife ended up going to work to take care of his family. The priest then said something shocking, he said to him that he wouldn’t want to live either with that understanding of manhood. He then went on to tell him that being a man is in how you love and serve someone and making money is not the only way to do that. It’s in how you choose to be like God to your family, he then said, “you might not ever be able to take care of your family financially but that doesn’t mean that you can’t love them like God loves them, that’s what going to make you a real man”. As the priest said, it's in being like God,  that is where we find our value.

In the world that we live in there are people that we will meet that will never be like Hercules. They will never be powerful, they will never be successful, and in some way, they will never measure up to whatever social standards that be. Nevertheless, the last will be first as the Lord says. These people who are considered “last” will be first because their worth and value are based on the fact that they are made in God’s image and likeness. This is the value that our saints recognized in people, a value that made them saints.  As people who are becoming saints, this is the value that the gospel teaches us today to see in ourselves and in others.

The Incomplete Narrative: Going to Heaven

 Our Lord Jesus never taught that people are going to heaven when they die. What he did teach was there is a kingdom that was coming here, a day when heaven would be here, a day when we would be resurrected and behold the glory of God in our bodies. These are things that we are not teaching people in our churches. What we are teaching them is about a temporary state. We are teaching them about when the spirit leaves the body and how it goes to be with the Lord. Even though that experience is heaven it’s an incomplete experience of it. Until we experience God in our bodies and on this Earth: we are not experiencing the fullness of the heavenly state.

When Jesus was on the cross, he told the thief that today he would be with him in Paradise. He did not say that he would be with him in heaven. Paradise in the scriptures is a reference to the Garden of Eden. Our Lord was speaking to him about the resurrected state when heaven and earth would be one. He did not tell him he was going to be in a temporary state until the great judgment. He told him about our end state. In saying this the obvious objection is, “Is this not the same thing as telling someone we are going to heaven when we die”? The answer is no!

When our Lord told the thief that he was going to be with him he gave his material life meaning. He gave the suffering that he was experiencing in his body meaning. The life he was living in his body received meaning because he would continue to have his body in the next life. When we focus on the immaterial world, the spiritual world, and proclaim that the fullness of God is experienced once we die, once we shed our bodies, we make our body and our material life valueless. What we did in our bodies or experienced in our bodies becomes irrelevant.

If all that matters is going to heaven Jesus should have left his broken and scared body behind. Not to mention the fact that when his mother died, he should have left that husk of a body to rot. We know that’s not the case, we know that in our Lord’s resurrection and in his mother's dormition we see our destiny, which is to have a glorified body. Not a new body, a renewed and resurrected body. God will not be starting from scratch and for this reason, what we do in our body matters. Our Lord Jesus proves this, he still has his scars and will have them for all eternity. Likewise, every good thing we have done in our bodies will remain and the suffering we endured in our body will be given its ultimate value.

One of the most down-to-earth examples of this fact is demonstrated in how we love our animals. We are often told by theologians that it is nothing but a sentimental waste of time. As they say, animals don’t go to heaven. Consequently, mourning for the death of an animal is pointless. Recently, I have proved otherwise(YouTube). If our ultimate destiny is here on earth in a glorified body, then the love that we gave those animals will endure. They will be returning here with us as the Prophet Isaiah foresaw. He said the earth would be filled with the glory of the Lord and we would be with animals in a peaceful bliss. This is our destiny, not going to heaven when we die.

We need to start teaching people the full narrative about our destiny. When we do, I believe the immediate result will be a decrease in cremations. Cremations are being done more and more by Christians because the body has lost value.  All that matters for the majority of them is getting into the afterlife. If they believed that they would be resurrected I guarantee cremation would be their last option. They need to learn that their body is the thing that God also wishes to save in this world. Our spirits after all are going to be put back in the body. Where they go after they die is not their ultimate home. 

A Protest Against Cremation

 In the recent past, I went to a funeral of a Roman Catholic who was cremated. After the funeral, the remains were placed in an ornamental structure on the church grounds. The amount of detail that was put into the design of the structure must have cost several hundreds of thousands. It was very impressive. After seeing it, I couldn’t help but think of a Hindu phrase I once heard, “JAY MA SMASHANA KALI” (Victory to Mother Kali of the Cremation Ground).

From my perspective what I experienced at that Catholic church amounted to being at a shrine dedicated to death, to Kali.  I am very much aware that my Church allows people to be cremated. I am also aware that there are some circumstances where there is no option. However, the people using this death shrine were paying up to 10k to be there. Most of them are from some of the wealthiest families in the parish. It would make sense to me if this was on church grounds to respect people who had no options other than cremation. However, what the church was doing is a contradiction to the belief in the Resurrection.

In many of the religions of the world, the cremation of the body is the last bridge to be burned in order to be reborn into a new life. This is especially true for the Hindus who believe that the body is more or less a vehicle to get them to their next life. I guess the same could be said for most modern Christians because for them the body is something that has no lasting value. Like it is for Hindus, all that matters for the modern Christian is the spirit, which moves on to what they call heaven.

I’m not sure when in the history of my religion we became like some of the other religions of the world. We used to believe in the resurrection of the body. The burial of the body was the last proclamation of our belief in the gospel. It's where we could say, “We are coming back here”. We even have saints who verified this belief. Their bodies remain incorrupt and are awaiting the day of resurrection. For the incorrupt saints, they believed that they would be coming back here, and their evidence is a witness against those errors that we find ourselves in today.   

If you look at the gospels our Lord never taught Hinduism. He preached about the resurrection of the body and of the Heavenly Kingdom that was coming here to Earth. There was no teaching from him about moving on to the next life. There was no going to heaven when you die. He never taught what most churches preach today. Our spirit does indeed go into our Lord’s care after we die. However, it goes into his care in order to be returned to the body. Just like we see with the Theotokos in the Icon of the Dormition. Could you imagine what would have happened if the apostles cremated her? The symbolism of the Resurrection would have been destroyed!

With our bodies, we are building the kingdom of God on Earth. As he taught us, we proclaim the good news to the Creation (Mark 16:15). One day he is going to finish what we started in our bodies. He is going to renew the earth and renew whatever elements of us that remain here. He is not going to be starting over from scratch. We will be renewed, not rebuilt. We will experience the same thing our Lord experienced in his resurrection.  This is why it’s essential that we stop burning our bodies. Heaven is going to be here on earth in our body. It’s what the body was made for. It’s what our Lord will make whole again. This is why our last act as Christians should be to bury our bodies and not to destroy them.