25. Fathers of the Bride - January 21st Maximus the Confessor (650 AD) and January 25th, Saint Gregory the Theologian (391AD).

Being at the deathbed of Saint Anthony, and observing how fierce those demons were with him awakened me to the truth that this planet whose creation once annoyed me, is much more than God's playground for animals and humans. Saint Anthony opened my angelic eyes to the battlefield and the laboratory that is planet earth.

After everyone dispersed I flew up and away from Egypt to get a better perspective for my thoughts. Mostly, I wanted to remove myself from all the demonic activity on earth. To be in such a whirling concentration of good and evil, is to be thrown about like a tumbleweed. In the heavens there is plenty of peaceful and calm space in which to think. I landed on a nice comfy cloud and contemplated the past few days and my next steps.

Saint Anthony showed me how a good soldier severs from himself the slavish quest for pleasure and comfort, and from time to time, even basic physical needs in order to reject temptation and thus be delivered from evil. Freedom from physical passion allowed his soul to perceive and receive the Holy Spirit to such an extent that Anthony became saintly.

While I was thinking, a lightening-bright light flashed and startled me. I looked up to see a manifestation of the Holy Spirit of God come to visit me, me the lowliest of all angels!

"Greetings." He said.

"Your majesty! To what do I owe this honor?" I replied meekly.

"I have come to ask you how you are getting along learning about My Bride and Her year."

"My Lord, I have learned a lot. You have quite a fascinating drama going on down there."

Being one to never let an opportunity pass me by, I added, "In fact, I wonder if I have learned enough. May I ask Your holy permission to go home now? I have never liked conflict, which is why I refused to join Lucifer. If only I could return to my normal spirit-life, I am sure I could worship You better than ever."

The Holy Spirit replied kindly, "Quitting is not an option my friend. You have only gone one third of the way through the year. You will enjoy many adventures in the near future. I have disturbed your contemplation to point out to you that just as Jesus Christ called me Father..."

I interrupted, "Lord, I was wondering about that. How are you doing that? How can you be God, the Father, God the Son, AND God, the Holy Spirit, of one essence in three Persons? I always thought I knew you, but in this last millennium You confuse me. Forgive me, but are you going through an identity crisis or something?" I could not believe I heard myself say that. Immediately I wound myself into a tight little ball to deflect being vaporized.

Instead, to my great surprise, I saw God smile! Then He said, "You angels don't know Me as you often think you do. Only I know Myself, no one else, nothing else, neither spirit nor human. Your curiosity is common; I have observed men and women for centuries contemplate just those matters. My own children, at least those humans who aspire to become My children, have even dismembered others in defense of what they thought was the truth of Who I Am, especially in my human form, as Jesus."

Relieved that I wasn't blasted, and emboldened by the Holy Spirit's tolerance, I said. "Who are You, really? You can tell me, it's just us here and I won't tell anyone else if You don't want me to."

I never before considered myself to be a funny angel, but His Holiness chuckled at me again before He replied,"I liked what My child Maximus said when he confessed His faith. He said that you can know Me by what I am not!"

"That's not fair,You are everything! Well, everything good that is." I added correcting myself. "Why does it matter that people, or even us angels know details about you?"

God replied, "When I came to earth as a human, I did not change, or separate from myself, I did not divide myself in two, I didn't even confuse My two natures. I was, as Jesus Christ pure human and pure God."

Again, I asked. "Okay, but why does it matter if people don't understand this? As long as you are worshipped, be glad. Aren't You are expecting too much from mere humans?"

God answered loud and forceful, "Of course it matters! Do you want anyone to misjudge you, or turn yoqu into someone you aren't?" And then He cut me to the quick when He said, "Would you want Gabriel to think you have gone over to Lucifer's camp?"

"My LORD don't appall me!" I responded, deeply offended by the suggestion.

Then He smiled knowingly and said, "Please calm down. I am only trying to prove My point by exaggerating.

What my Bride calls dogma, Her understanding and definition of Who I am, is one with Her worship and spirituality. Again, that is what My child Maximus confessed to the dullards of his day.

Worship alone, is nothing more than raw emotion, or hollow discipline, if it isn't united to correct faith. I will accept nothing less. I don't need to draw worship from a muddy river running past me. Dogma goes hand-in-hand with spirituality."

"Lord?" I said, wanting to take a step back in a conversation that I was not prepared for, but flailing in my effort to catch up."Why is it so important that You were unchanged as God when you became a man?"

With the deep gentle and confident voice of a wise old teacher, the Holy Spirit replied, "I went to earth to make gods of men. I went to bring the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve back to the Garden of Eden, to trade their curse of death with the blessing of eternal life. I went to show them the way to the Tree of Life. I love My children and I want to live among them. I want them to see Me and know Me and be like Me. I have wanted that from the moment I created light."

God went on, "when I became a man, unless I was fully God too, I could never have accomplished My mission. Who else, but Me, knows where the Tree of Life is planted? Who else could perform the miracles and endure the trial? Who else could have raised so many from the dead? Do you think for a moment an angel could have done those things for Me?" Then He looked me square in the eye, not seeming so kindly anymore.

"Not me Lord! I don't know any angel that could have done all that." And with the courage of a Maximus or an Anthony I added, "So then you weren't human after all."

This time when the lightening struck it was accompanied by a blast of thunder.

"You MORON!!" shouted God.

Suddenly I was reminded that this was the God who parted the Red Sea, and let thousands of soldiers drown. This was the God who opened the earth to consume Dathan and Abiram.

"What! What did I say, my Lord?"

Calming Himself down, the Holy Spirit replied, "What do I look like, a magician?"

"No, Sire."

"I could go to earth right now and raise every person buried there, I could heal every man woman and child from any ailment, I can destroy and I can create, but what good would that do? Miracles, defying nature, does not bring one person to eternal life.

Only as purely human could I take My children by the hand, and usher them into My Kingdom. In Jesus I gave them someone to emulate. Take Anthony, if I was not human, how could Anthony hope to be like Me? Why would he even try, if there wasn't a chance? Because I was purely human I experienced the human condition."

ONLY by being BOTH fully human and fully God could I accomplish My mission. When the humans recognize my dual nature as Christ, they are they worshipping Me in truth."

My Bride has many Fathers who in their humility and willingness to stubbornly defend Me helped to form Her. Now go back to earth and celebrate the feasts of Maximus and Gregory with their brothers and sisters. Pick any generation you wish, and any geographical location. Have fun. We will watch from here."

In swooped Archangel Michael to guide me back. I think God sent him to make sure I took no detours.

28. The Triodion Begins

I did it again! I lost the Holy Family as they disappeared into the crowd of shoppers in Jerusalem. After giving up I decided to look instead for the older Jesus to see if He was ready for me to protect Him in the wilderness when to my surprise the Holy Spirit appeared.

"Your Majesty!" I exclaimed and bowed low. "To what do I owe this honor- again- so soon?"

His majesty replied in a soft calming voice, "I regret that you felt uncomfortable after our last conversation. You most certainly have a lot to learn. I would have sent Gabriel to tell you about this new phase, but it is too complex to delegate. Knowing you as I do, you may need extensive explanation."

I wasn't sure if I should be honored by God's visit or insulted, but His words certainly aroused my curiosity.

The Holy Spirit continued,"You are entering the period of the year that the Bride calls the Triodion. In her loveliness, She tries to mimic Me by knitting together the Old Covenant with the New."

"A Bride who knits, you could have done worse, My Lord!" I responded to see if I could make the Holy Spirit smile, and to see what that would look like.

Success! He flashed me a sparkle and continued: "My Bride will soon play with time more than you have ever seen Her play with it before. She will layer and fold it tidily until centuries appear to be as one concept, one purposeful stepping stone."

"Sounds interesting my Lord. I suppose the Triodion has something to do with Your Trinitarian-ness. So, what is She going to do?" I asked, trying to get back on topic.

"Very good! Sorry I got side-tracked. Like Me, She loves the number three. Today marks the beginning of the Triodion period because it is three weeks before the Great Lent. This three week period is the first of three. To top that off, each day She reads three lessons, 1. Historical from Genesis during Lent, and the Exodus during Holy Week, 2. The Prophets; Isaiah during Lent and Ezekiel during Holy Week, and 3. Wisdom literature; Proverbs during Lent and Job during Holy Week."

"My Lord," I commented, "don't you think that is a bit too much play on the number three?"

"No I don't!" retorted the Holy Spirit in a way that had me cringe. Then He added, "No one minds kaleidoscopes do they? I think it is beautiful! The second Period of the Triodion is the 40 days of Great Lent."

"So, why isn't it 30 days of Lent," I asked, "and take the theme all the way?"

"Where have you been all this time? Are you the most ignorant angel in the heavens?" I could tell that this was not a rhetorical question. The Holy Spirit demanded an answer.

"Well, sire. The truth is that I like to fly." I confessed sheepishly. "I was flying through the universe, always trying to stay on the dark side, so I could imagine that this time-fling of yours would be over and we could go back to the way it was. Before being exiled to earth, I had no idea of what was transpiring here; nor did I care." I said frankly.

With my response, the Holy Spirit's thoughts drifted back to life before time, when all was darkness and void and spirits formed a miasma of ennui that was so strong and powerful that God felt compelled to do something bold, like create the universe. Snapping back to my pathetic situation, God patiently said, "without giving you an entire history lesson let me say that the number forty has been repeatedly significant. Remember just last week when Jesus was presented at forty days because of the 40 years of traveling through the wilderness after the Passover? There was also Moses who visited me on Mt. Sinai for 40 days when I gave him the tablets of the Law, and soon you will be accompanying Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days, and then there was the 40 years of David's..."

Cutting His Holiness off I said, "Okay, okay, I get it. What is the last of the three parts of the Triodion?"

"The last," He answered, "is Holy Week. I will let you go there to find out for yourself what that means. The important thing to know is that the Bride will knit together many of those experiences of forty in her Great Lent. But the overriding theme will be the fall of mankind, when Adam and Eve did the one thing in the whole wide world I told them not to do, so they lost their immortality and I expelled them from Paradise. Did you even know about that?" He said looking at me at the same time exasperated and compassionate.

"I believe Gabriel mentioned it to me." I replied, not quite sure I was right, but to save face. I intended to learn the details as soon as I could.

The Comforter was comforted in the knowledge that my experience of the full Triodion Period would teach me part of all that I had to learn about the Church, the Bride of Christ, since the beginning of time.

God bellowed, "Now I command you to return to the church of your choice today, and pay special attention to the Gospel reading. Jesus will teach you from His parable about the Publican and the Pharisee. It is about the difference between hubris and humility, something you, of all My angels, need most to learn about. Go, and without any acrobatics!"

It took me a moment to absorb all the knowledge and wisdom that God had just tried to impart to me. Remaining in place, I sat perfectly still and quiet. I tried not to think, lest I would distort the message with misunderstanding, but rather I allowed echoes of the rich hallowed vibrations to penetrate undefiled into my angelic psyche. After a time and a half, I allowed myself to consider which church to fly to. The cathedral of the Holy Wisdom in Washington, DC instantly came to mind, surmising that the Wisdom of God would want me to be there.

I arrived to find a chanter and a priest chanting and praying in the large Cathedral with only one worshipper, ten minutes later, a second person arrived. Then I recalled that the people drift in little by little, not seeming to mind that they had missed the part of the service that related most to the uniqueness of the day.

"Welcome back!" exclaimed Poppy. "It's so good to see you! Where have you been? We have missed you!"

"Shhh! I can't talk now. I am on a mission. I'll tell you later; it's a long story." I replied, agreeing in my heart that it felt great to be back and to see Poppy again."

Everyone in the pews stood up, as the tall young dark-haired priest in an elegant deep green satin vestment embellished with a gold cross on his back turned with book in hand which he set down on a golden podium and read:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The priest shut the Book gently; looked up at his flock and said, "Humility is the foundation for all our spiritual labors. The best way to prepare for the fast ahead, the best way to prepare for our journey through the wilderness of the Great Lent is to do everything in our might to shed our pride and self righteousness.

The stench of self-esteem and of boasting drives away the grace of the Spirit. Pride strips man of all his virtue, and casts him away from our great and most powerful God who condescended to take on flesh and suffer for our sakes. The contrite prayer of the Publican, who recognized his true state of humility was actually being Christ-like, and through that divine attitude qualified himself to enter Paradise.

Not at the beginning of Lent, but NOW in the pre-Lenten season of the Triodion, let each of us guard our own heart from the corrosive effects of pride. Let the strongest, and richest, and most successful among us know that our earthly strength is our heaviest burden, like having a bolder tied to our ankles, when it comes to our ability to traverse the wilderness, combat the devil, survive the cross, and receive Christ's outstretched hand to pull us too out of Hades."

Stunned at these words I looked at faces in the congregation and noticed a tear here and a bowed head there. A couple here and there were clutching each other's hand. The scene was no less than marvelous. Then snapping back into my old sarcastic mode, I thought, 'So the Bride can knit, AND She is a good mother. What a lucky guy.'

49. Feast-day of the Holy Spirit

When I pointed to the Bride with love and admiration, in Her spirit She quickly turned my attention away from Herself and directed it to the Holy Spirit of God. The day after Pentecost was the feast day of the Holy Spirit. With Her keen sense of order, the Bride honors saints following their major events. For example, she celebrates John the Baptist the day after Epiphany, the baptism of Christ.

'Major event' would be an understatement for Pentecost! In fact, for Christ's supernatural Bride it's Her birthday. When God poured Himself as the Person of the Holy Spirit into humankind, He attempted to recreate man in His image and likeness. Supernatural God-filled people, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man but of His Will would form His one holy catholic and apostolic Wife, His help-meet.

Even though Her year officially starts in September, when the world was created, the Bride of Christ, the Church, measures time by weeks after Pentecost, when She was born.

I have known the Holy Spirit forever, in fact for me, He is the Person of God that I relate to the most. Getting to know Jesus better down here has been fascinating. Jesus is like the Holy Spirit in a body. Maybe that is why Jesus said He had to leave so that He could send the Holy Spirit to His people.

"Hey there! Who are you talking to? Wanna celebrate with me?"

"Poppy!" I exclaimed with more glee than I thought I was capable of. "It's so good to see you again! What are you doing here in Jerusalem?"

She replied, "I came to fetch you and take you back to the 21st century Washington, D.C. I heard you have been wandering around, and we decided it was time to return to America. Come on, I'll race you!" With that, Poppy shot off like a bullet. There wasn't a challenge yet that I would turn down. Besides, Poppy didn't give me time to, so off I went into the wild blue yonder, wondering if I would pass the Holy Spirit on the way.

We landed simultaneously on Garfield Street; it was a dead heat. Poppy said, "Let's go inside. Tell me if you see whether the Holy Spirit still lives in the people after all these years."

Poppy and I flew into the big familiar stone building to find a sparse congregation. The chanter and his sidekicks were crooning away, sometimes in tune and sometimes not. The people stood and sat, stood and sat in a rhythm, and the priests went in and out, in and out of the altar. They were following the script closely. Sometimes I saw their hearts trying to mean what they were saying and sometimes their minds carried them very very far away from the words. It was so easy for the chanters and priests to hide behind the script, and for the people in the pews to drift as well.

Of all the times I had been in here I never before noticed such a cacophony of spirits and wandering of minds and hearts. I supposed that the experience of Pascha and Pentecost had changed me. I think it made me more sensitive to the Spirit of Truth. This church was named after the Holy Wisdom of God, which is also the Holy Spirit, but I didn't recognize as much Wisdom as I had seen in Jerusalem.

I turned to Poppy and asked, "Poppy, is the Holy Spirit here? I can't tell?"

Poppy replied, "He tries to be. The people want everything that He offers. They want it very much and for some, that is why they come here, they hope to find Him here.

When He dwells within them and they acknowledge His presence and care for Him in their souls, they can access His Fatherly attributes."

"Is the Holy Spirit then the Father of the Bride that cares for them?" I asked.

"Yes, but as with earthly father's some are heeded and respected and some are just given lip service." Poppy replied somberly, then added, "As an indwelling father, the Holy Spirit is the very best companion a human can have. Children of God need Him like they need water and food and air. The Bride needs the indwelling Holy Spirit to survive this world of dark forces and of deteriorating matter. To the people of the Bride He is:

The Spirit of truth

Giver of Life

Comforter

Intercessor

Standby

Strengthener

Counselor

Teacher

Helper

Healer, and

Provider

"That's amazing! Who wouldn't want that!"

"Some people do and some don't want it enough to let go of their pride and egos." replied Poppy. "But it is easy to tell the difference between those people who treasure the Holy Spirit and those who only pretend to."

"How?" I asked.

"Well, by their fruit, silly! The people who are the best hosts of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them produce His fruit! They manifest His qualities and characteristics."

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Long suffering

Mildness

Fidelity

Modesty

Continence

Chastity

"Do the people of the Bride know this?" I wondered.

"Yes," replied Poppy, "but what helps them the most is when the Holy Spirit gives them gifts that help them to be real through and through and not double minded or double hearted. It is much harder to live on this planet without the gifts of the Holy Spirit."

"A gift giving Holy Spirit Father who dwells within! What are the gifts He gives?"

Poppy answered, "They are:

Wisdom

Understanding

Counsel

Fortitude

Knowledge

Piety, and the

Fear of God.

The Holy Spirit gave birth to the Bride and He nurtures His Child every day of Her life if she will only open her heart to receive.

The people, even many of the people you see in this building would rather cling to their arrogance, their pride and false power. They can be rude to each other, complaining and combative. It is so sad." I could tell that Poppy was deeply grieved.

"What can they do?" I asked.

Poppy replied, "They should search their souls in humility and confess, and The Lord will forgive them and give them His gifts. But in this church they don't offer confession so much. So they have to try it on their own. There is no spiritual guidance, only services, where they all read the script together and hope for the best. I am afraid without the Eucharist they offer, they would be sunk."

Feeling pretty glum, I asked Poppy, "Do I have to stay here now.? Poppy, you have made me very sad and confused. I want to go back to Jerusalem where they really cared."

Poppy gave me an angel hug and said, "Welcome to earth, where flowers grow from mud. It will be okay. Just look around for the love and the light. Sift through the rest. Look there's a person who is trying to be a good host to the Holy Spirit. Go over to him. He will make you feel better. Now you know why the humans need fortitude, kindness, and the ability to be long-suffering!"

HAPPY FATHERS DAY HOLY SPIRIT AND ALL YOU FATHERS WHO ARE GOOD HOSTS TO HIM!