Judaism, from the beginning, in all of its multiple forms, had a built-in inter-family debate over what the proper way of being Jewish is. Everything we have written in the New Testament is Jewish literature, and part of this inter-family argument, debating principally over whether Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. Yes, the argument can become strident, harsh and difficult, but not necessarily anti-Jewish, as it's happening within Judaism itself.

We've established during this series that Rabbinic Judaism and what came to be known as Christianity are the two forms of Judaism that emerged from the post temple, first century Jewish environment. Over the centuries and millennia, as these two traditions and theologies ceased to recognize each other as being from one family, this rhetoric that was once part of a family dispute, now takes on a different character.

When the Jew is no longer me, or my family, or the tradition I believe I'm part of, but rather the "other", we start to see the divisions and anti-Jewish stereotypes even in our teaching, preaching and worship. Jesus is no longer the quintessential Jew, living out the best of Judaism, but rather the rebel which saves us from the Law. We read back this othering and anti-Judaism back into the epistles and gospel teachings, and it becomes the seed bed from which antisemitism grows.

Fr Yuri and Fr Geoffrey explore the difference between anti-Judaism and antisemitism, parallel this whole othering process with marriage, separation and divorce, and also discuss Justin Martyr and his Dialogue with Trypho (both the good and the bad!).

We continue to work through the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus gave to his disciples who asked to learn how to pray, beginning with "Give us this day our daily bread." Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri explore how this traditionally Jewish theme (e.g. manna as daily bread, relying solely on God's provision) also points to the Christian practices of receiving Holy Eucharist, and participating in the Messianic age in the here and now, a foretaste of the life to come. Kind of like ordering a pumpkin spice latte at the end of summer. Seriously, listen for this analogy, it's a gem!

We also discuss the etymology, and Jewish stories and traditions that might advocate for certain translations of the Lord's Prayer: using "debts" vs "trespasses", "temptation" vs "trial", or "evil" vs "evil one".

In the gospel according to Matthew, Jesus teaches his followers how to pray using what we now know as The Lord's Prayer. As Christians, most of us would claim this prayer as quintessentially Christian, however we will find that it is also quintessentially Jewish in nature. Again, we see how Jesus, far from rejecting his tradition, lived and taught in fulfillment of it.

In this episode, Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri begin to discuss each clause and its deep connection with Jewish tradition, and how its themes ought to inform what it is we bring to prayer, both communal and personal.

Come back next week for part two! In the meantime, we would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

In John's Gospel, we find a unique narrative of Jesus meeting a Samaritan woman at a well. He shows her deep compassion, speaking with her, honouring her, calling out her sin while calling her into the Kingdom. As a Samaritan, she represents the gentiles, the nations who are not part of the covenant community, being brought in. There is a particular line in this narrative that we will use as the focal point for this series:

"You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews."

Our theology, our understanding of who God is, is mediated through the story of God and Israel. It is through the calling of a particular people, a particular nation, that all nations are saved. It is through God's interaction with this particular and imperfect people, that He reveals himself to be the God that we know and worship and ultimately recognize in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the central story that we participate in and are grafted into. You can't have Jesus, and the Church, and its sacraments, and a spiritual life, and our destiny in the Kingdom of God, without grappling with the story of God and Israel.

Jesus of Nazareth was and is a Jew. In point of fact, he was a faithful and Torah-observant Jew and first century Rabbi. If we are interested in his teachings and his example, then we must understand he was a real person who lived in a real time within a real culture. It is impossible to understand his teachings without first understanding that he lived in fulfillment of Jewish tradition, not in rejection of it. The more we come to see this, the more we can fully live out our own Orthodox faith.

To miss this, and to separate ourselves from the story of God and Israel, is to put ourselves outside of the worship of the one true God - and surely we want to be counted as those who "worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews."

This final episode of the season, recorded on 5 November 2024, is available in full for subscribers to our Patreon channel. This is an edited version of the original episode which discusses more of the varied responses to the response we drafted to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Please do check out www.archdiocese.ca/orthodox-church-and-indigenous-peoples-canada to see what is now being shared on our behalf. 

We'd like to also acknowledge that Murray Sinclair passed into eternal rest the day before this episode was recorded, with many thanks to this great man for the work that he did towards Truth and Reconciliation. Clearly, the work is ongoing, and needs to be ongoing!

Fr Yuri presents a first draft of a statement to post on the Canadian Orthodox Church's website that will serve as a (somewhat informal) response to the TRC, that he prepared based on the previous episodes of this season. Paragraph by paragraph, Fr Geoffrey offers suggestions on how to strengthen the message, making sure that the theology is clear, and yet also accessible to both Orthodox and non-Orthodox ears. It's a unique opportunity to hear them work through the practical part of writing, a mini crash course if you will, with some worthwhile tangents thrown in for good measure (for example, correcting the "othering" of Indigenous peoples that can happen in hymnology, and the root meaning of dialogue).

It is beautiful and fitting that this episode was recorded on the anniversary of the first contact of the Russian mission in Alaska with Indigenous peoples, and published on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Glory to God!

In this week's episode, we focus our discussion on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Parsing out each word in that title - what does it mean to be a "person", and "indigenous", what are "rights" - there is plenty to talk about, and we draw on ideas from Fr Thomas Hopko, Martin Luther King and Tom Holland (the historian, not the Spiderman actor!), among others.

Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri discuss why tensions might exist for some Orthodox when considering these terms, and also the way that our Orthodox perspective upholds and strengthens this language. We can think of rights as a gift of Christianity to the world, not an enemy theology. Instead of questioning the rights themselves, we must re-tether them to the theological tradition that gave rise to them. Responding in this way gives us a framework for discussion, a framework that is connected back to our wider story of God, and enables us to enact the Kingdom here and now.

We return to our series after a summer away, having had time to reflect on the discussion with Deacon John. Among other things, it serves as a good reminder that it can be all too easy to approach this issue with high level ideas and concepts. The truth is that on all sides of this issue can be found very real people, affected in very real ways, which we must be sensitive too.

Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri discuss the pitfalls of whataboutism, the church's precedent of speaking out about certain issues (and perhaps avoiding others), and the continued need for a coherent, modest and meaningful response to this particular issue, connected to concrete action.

Pointing to the work that is already ongoing in the in the life of the church, including (but certainly not limited to) the recent canonization of an indigenous saint, Fr Yuri and Fr Geoffrey share their next steps as they prepare for the Archdiocesan council. 

By the prayers of Holy Mother Olga, may their work be blessed!

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to our special guest Fr Dcn John Schantz, who shares his family's background and its connection to missionary work with Indigenous persons, and his professional work as a pediatric cardiologist serving a population in which Indigenous people are affected disproportionately. 

In this thoughtful discussion, we consider the relationship between making amends on a personal and institutional level, our responsibility to speak out (not necessarily about the past, but certainly about present disparities and how to move forward), and we take a closer look at our motivation for responding to this issue at this time.

Words matter. Sometimes words fall short and they disappear in short order, yet when done right they make a profound impact and can be remembered and quoted decades and even centuries later (think Nostra Aetate, or the Creed).

In this episode, we take a look at the statements made by other Canadian churches in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the goals of taking the good, leaving the bad, and figuring out the proper response for our Canadian Orthodox Church. As we consider our own statement, Fr Geoffrey quotes from Samuel, that the Lord might also be with us and let none of our words fall to the ground!

It is important to recognize the strength and grace within our tradition to move this work forward. This is precisely in alignment with the Gospel and therefore with the Orthodox faith. It requires no change in practice, no rethinking of theology. Fr Yuri shares a beautiful analogy for the way different cultures and lands express Orthodoxy (don't miss this one!); as the Canadian Orthodox church we must learn how to express Orthodoxy in a Canadian/North American way.

In today's episode, we focus our discussion on Orthodoxy in relation to the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island. As in the last episode when we spoke about St Stephen of Perm, there are many North American saints who "got it right" as well, recognizing the theological similarities and compatibility between various forms of indigenous spirituality and Orthodox Christianity. However, it is essential to ground this knowledge in the understanding that these best examples shine all the more brightly because of the darkness against which they were operating.

Fr Yuri and Fr Geoffrey hold up to the light some of the stereotypical comments made by Orthodox Christians about this topic, with their blend of truth, myth, perspective and simplified history. "We weren't part of the residential school system or the sixties scoop. In fact, not only are we innocent of those charges, we should be praised for our part!" "For Orthodox, our first contact happened in Alaska. How is that relevant to the Canadian Orthodox Church?" "Won't a response at this point (so many years after the TRC) just be adding to so much noise?" "This isn't our cross to bear." "When does this end?!"

The truth is that we are coming rather late to the table - thank the Lord for welcoming those of us who come at the eleventh hour! - but the conversation is just beginning.

In this episode, Fr Yuri and Fr Geoffrey focus in on how Orthodoxy has historically approached its mission of bringing Christianity to other cultures, before coming to North America (don't worry, we'll get to North America soon!). 

If we look honestly at the history of how Orthodox Christians have shared the Good News, we didn't always get it right, however we do have some shining examples of missionary saints that can serve as models to us. Sts Cyril and Methodius, for example, fought against the trilingual heresy to bring Christianity to the Slavs. Centuries later, and very ironically, St Stephen of Perm fought a similar "quadrilingual heresy" - you'll have to listen in to hear what that was about! When done right, as Orthodoxy spread, it was received and then indigenized into the new lands, using their own culture and traditions in order to tell the story in a way that would touch the hearts of their people. 

St Stephen of Perm in particular shows us not only how to bring the gospel to a new people, interfering as little as possible with their culture, language and traditions, but also models how to stand with them against those that would do them harm. In modern terms, he shows us how to be a true "ally".

If we are truly to be the Canadian Orthodox Church, we need to be attuned to our people. Throughout this season, Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri will explore ways that the Liturgy can (and should) reflect the place we're in, and specifically how we can effectively work with the efforts of Truth & Reconciliation with the indigenous peoples of Canada in an intentional and authentic way.

As a Church, our response to the TRC (Truth & Reconciliation Commission) is long overdue, but the work has now begun. We will be looking for a multi-layered response: individual, liturgical, parochial and institutional. And since we as Orthodox are not good at "trendy", this response must not merely be a reflection of the time we find ourselves in. Rather, it must be based on a deeply thought out, theologically sound reflection, that will serve us through the ages.

Truly, this is no small task! But here we begin.

It's time to wrap up our series on The Hours at Home!  We hope this has been as refreshing and freeing for you as it has been for us. So much of the emphasis in Orthodoxy can be on doing something "right" or "completely", but this series has been about how we can actually, in practical ways, engage in the daily prayer of the Church that makes sense of our experience of time and reconnects us to the natural cycle of the day, but also addresses how we live our life in the 21st century.

Remember, even if you could only spend 30 seconds, eight times a day, doing a simple act (lighting a candle ((this may be a sore spot for Fr Yuri, listen in to find out)), setting aside your devices, saying a troparion, with a word of prayer and a remembrance of God), this will be transformative of your human experience. Far more transformative, even, than if you spent half an hour or an hour every day charging through a bunch of texts without intention. What's important is the recovery of the connection to God's creation and its inherent cycles, daily, weekly and seasonal, and building a remembrance of God and our vocation as image-bearers.

Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri also propose a new way to think of St Paul's call to "pray ceaselessly" that will take the world off your shoulders. You are not doing these prayers alone! In solitude, perhaps, but never alone.

"Eight Days a Week": a classic Beatles song, yes, but also the Orthodox approach to the weekly cycle of prayer!

Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri discuss the theme of each day of the week, how they relate to our human experience, and also offer practical advice on how to incorporate the themes into our home prayer life.

We come now to the Ninth Hour, the last service of the day, and the time to re-collect ourselves after being disoriented by our many worldly cares and concerns during the day. Fans of "The Office" might transition from work by playing "Closing Time" (if you know, you know), but the Ninth Hour encourages us instead to use this time to focus on the theme of "return" — the cycle of the day returning towards beginning again, returning to our homes, the return of humanity to God's purposes.

Fr Yuri and Fr Geoffrey remind us that these hours of prayer, properly appropriated and used during our day are crucial for our spiritual, mental and bodily well-being. Whatever we can do, even it it's just one memorized verse, if we do it right and do it habitually until it becomes instinctive and a part of how we live, our lives will be so much the better for it. In essence, as Orthodox we need to become "old clockists".

Fr Yuri's book recommendation: "Deep Work" by Cal Newport.

In Psalm 54(55) we hear, "Evening, morning and at noon, will I tell of it and declare it  and He will hear my voice." We've already seen how Matins and Vespers are the bookends of the day, as dark transitions to light and light to dark. Now we see how when the sun is at its unrelenting peak, our daily rhythms also naturally lend themselves to prayer.  n fact, it has been a practice of Christians since the early Church, and of the Jews before them, to mark this time with prayer.

Fr Yuri speaks from personal experience how helpful incorporating the Sixth Hour into his day has been, from being the main liturgical gathering when St Maria's first became a mission, to today. Even in our modern world, the practice of setting aside ten minutes in the middle of your day to fully read the Sixth Hour is... dare we say... achievable, and encouraged!

The Third Hour is generally served between 9am and 12noon, which corresponds for many of us to the middle of our work morning. It's rather a rough time to stop for prayer, risking the interruption of our workflow. But what if — what if! — instead of seeing these services as being in competition with what we're doing in our day, we began to see them as a way of complementing and supporting our activities? Indeed, our activity will be informed and transformed by them. Even if you just have a moment while you get up from your desk and stretch, you can put it to good use.

Fr Yuri and Fr Geoffrey discuss the themes of this hour (the trial of Christ, the tasting of the forbidden fruit and the coming of the Holy Spirit), and how we can reflect on them to reorient and recalibrate ourselves that we might approach the busy-ness of our day in the right spirit (pun intended!). 

This is the hour in the daily cycle of prayer that doesn't have a high profile in the communal life of the church, often just tacked on to the beginning or end of another service, if it's celebrated at all.  In contrast to the other services, which have fuller expressions in the church and we are offering ways to do it more modestly at home, this particular service comes into its own when taken outside of the church. Here, Fr Yuri and Fr Geoffrey propose ways of giving this hour more prominence in the daily rhythm of our life.

At that transition moment between our morning routine and the launch into our day, with all that it shall bring, this is the opportunity to stand before God, pledging watchfulness and heedfulness to His word, acknowledging Him as the proper authority in all things. This is our baptismal pledge, that we would live our lives recognizing the Lord as King and God, and it is meant to affect every moment of every day.

Remember, even if you have only thirty seconds to mark the first hour — it will be worth it!

It is cockcrow, the time when light just begins to break through the darkness, and the time for Matins. But don't go out and buy your rooster just yet (Fr Yuri is still trying to return his!) — the goal of this series is to help you enact the services of the daily cycle at home in a practical and sustainable way.

Thematically, Matins is the mirror image of Vespers, straddling the transition now from dark to light. This transition is a sacramental moment, a transformational act we are all invited to be the priests of, offering up the darkness that God would be able to do something within and through it, and turn it again into light. In essence, this is the Christian life!

Regardless of the time you rise, Fr Geoffrey and Fr Yuri offer practical advice for enacting this service, stilling ourselves in the midst of what is and what will come, turning to God and placing our trust utterly in Him.