This week one of our nuns became a citizen of the United States of America.  The process was fairly simple; It was only a few steps with lots of waiting in between.  And, yes, we had a little celebration. 

As Christians, however, we know that the citizenship we truly desire is not of this world.  How does one acquire this citizenship?

A stranger asked me recently how we get to heaven or know that we are saved.  The question was worded as a challenge for me to defend my doctrine of salvation; It was clear that she expects my beliefs to be not only different from hers, but also that hers are correct and mine are not.

The question of how a person gets to heaven, however, is too important for idle discussion or vain argument.  It is a matter of life or death.

The person who is sincerely interested in finding the true answer to this vital question will stop at nothing to find it.  She will willingly leave behind family and friends.  She will gladly set aside career and family dreams.  She will joyfully leave the faith of her childhood, when she realizes that it is based on falsehoods and corruptions of the truth. 

When her only desire is to find the Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and His True Church, as He presented it to the world, and True worship, as He Himself taught His Apostles, she will pursue this God-given desire at all costs, no matter what.

This citizenship is costly.  It required of the Lord Jesus Christ His condescension, His incarnation, His suffering, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension and His return for His flock.

And, this citizenship is costly for the honest seeker of the Truth.  It requires giving up one’s own plan for one’s life, one’s ideas of happiness and success.  Mostly, it requires giving up one’s own ideas of God, church and Christian living.  It requires recognizing that most, if not all, of our ideas about God are wrong, that the Lord gave us His Church and that if we are not in it, we are outside of God’s will, and that Christian life is about repentance and total reliance on the mercy of God.

A note about repentance:  Repentance is NOT merely recognizing one’s sinfulness.  It must include sincere desire and effort for change; one must actively pursue developing the virtues and especially purity of heart.

Many people have gone through this process.  They’ve set out on the difficult, painful and ultimately joyful journey of discovering the True Church of Jesus Christ as it has existed from the time of the Lord’s sojourn on earth. Most importantly, they’ve discovered that finding Christ’s True Church is not the end of their journey; it is the beginning.  Baptism into the Orthodox Church is arrival at the starting line.  This does not negate the years of struggle and training to get there.  But from that moment on, everything is different.

When you are prepared to ask sincere questions, to challenge the very foundation of your Christian life, and to follow through to the end, no matter what, you too will find the Truth.

If you knew that the next time you see your mother will be the last time you see her, how would you spend the time?  What would you talk about?

When my parents saw me off at the airport eleven years ago, I didn’t expect to have contact with them again.  That was part of my decision to become a monastic, not a reflection of any problem between us.  In fact, we were quite close and our parting was full of tenderness and love.

A few months later, my mother came to visit me.  She was especially delighted to see that I was in a safe and beautiful place and with good people.  At first, she came for about a week once a year.  In 1999, she was with us for Holy Week and Pascha.  This was an unforgettable experience for her and she went home to her Bible study and ladies’ groups with lots of photos and fond memories to share.

Her visits became less frequent as time passed.  I haven’t seen her in at least three years.  And, I’ve only seen Dad once.  That was in 1998, when he and Mom stopped in for lunch during a cross-country road trip.

During one of our rare and brief telephone conversations last summer, Mom said, “I do hope I will be able to see you one more time.”  The finality of her words struck me.  And, I can’t forget them.

Well, it turns out that Mom and Dad are planning another cross-country trip and they’ve worked in a few hours to visit me again.  Although I always wondered, whenever I’ve said good bye, if it is for the last time, this time it very likely will be.

Mom is losing her memory.  She doesn’t have an official diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease, but it doesn’t really matter.  She’s had all the tests and she’s on the medication.  It seems like this is all happening very fast, but she’s been complaining about her memory for a long time – years, in fact.

So, in my mind, I’m imagining this aging couple, which happens to be my parents – adopted, yes, but the very best – making their last trip across the United States.  There’s Dad with his program – how many miles to drive each day, where to spend the night, when to stop to eat…  And, there’s his navigator, sound asleep next to him.  So, they drive and drive and she leaves her memory further and further behind.  Three thousand miles later they will visit me.  What will be left of her?  And what can I possibly do together with them in the fraction of a day that I will have to say good bye for really the last time? 

1ST COMMENT:  (from the blogger's Godmother)

I know that back in 2001 July I surprised my mother with a visit on her birthday.  I spent 4 days with her and I felt that I may not see her again alive after my departure.  She was sitting on the edge of her bed during one of those days and I went over to her and knelt by her side.  I asked her to forgive me for anything I may have done or said during my life to offend her and I then kissed her hand.  She did not say one word to me-we only looked into each others eyes.  She quietly took my right hand and kissed it.  That October she had a stroke and I did visit her a few times later in the nursing home where my brother had arranged for her to be for the care she needed.  It was February 2002 that I saw her for the last time at that nursing home.  When I got up to leave we looked at each other and I knew that I would not see her alive again.  It was the beginning of LEnt and my mother passed away on Bright Monday, May 6, 2002!!!!  How wonderful was that!!!

Make your peace with both parents when you see them.  It is a wonderful opportunity.

2ND COMMENT:  (from the blogger's Sunday school teaching partner)

It's a very touching blog and one that is filled with love and sadness....  it's a side of you that I don't normally see and never really thought about. It was shocking to realize that you DID have to say goodbye to your parents...I never thought about who or what the sisters left behind or said goodbye to for the last time. Yes, you might have said goodbye, you will say goodbye again, but is it really goodbye? Physically yes, but you will pray for what is more important her soul. Does that sound harsh...I certainly don't mean to...I have said goodbye to my father (abruptly) and to my grandmother (very sad, she was my best friend) and now to my grandfather (the patriarch of our family) but I celebrate them by making koliva, praying for their souls and trying to stay a good person so the we can see them in the next life.  I would post it...it's you being you and showing that you are not just a nun but you were someones daughter and that  you hurt and have
feelings like we all do, nun or not.

3RD COMMENT:  (from a new friend, the newly baptized John)

This story of the love of Saint Justina for God brings up the subject of the love between a man and a woman, a boy and a girl.  For this, we need a pretty clear definition of love.

God wants what is best for you.  He wants you to have true joy, no counterfeits.  This is why He guides you and teaches you and, sometimes, chastises you – to bring you into the fullness of His joyous love.

When you want what is best for someone, it means that you love that person.

And, when a guy loves you, he will want what is best for you.  You know that God desires for you to become pure.  Not only does God want you to be a virgin on your wedding day, but He also wants your entire relationship to be free from all sexual impurities.

♥             So, then, will any guy that loves you push you into sexual activity?  No, because sexual activity before you are married will harm you.  It may harm you physically and may mess up your future.  But it will definitely harm you emotionally and psychologically.  And, it will certainly damage your relationship with God, Who is to be our first love.

♥             Will any guy that loves you demand that you prove your love to him with sexual favors?  No.  In fact, if a guy is doing this – saying that you must prove that you love him – it is time to for you to prove your love for yourself and get out of that relationship.

♥             And, will he even think of asking you to compromise your love for God to satisfy his momentary desire?  No.  The guy that truly loves you will never ask you to choose him over God.

“I have told you this so that My joy

may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

 The Lord Jesus Christ

In other words, what the Lord wants for you is perfect joy.

Now, I’m going to tell you a love story:

There was a girl name Justina, who chose to remain a virgin because of her love for our Lord Jesus Christ.  Not only did she have no boyfriend, but she did not listen to, look at nor speak about anything which would soil the purity of her soul.  Therefore, when a young man wanted to be her boyfriend, he could not persuade her to love him. 

The man was so desperate, he asked an evil magician to help him make Justina submit to him.  The deceiver tried every demonic spell he knew, but nothing worked against the holy virgin.  The magician learned that he had no power over her, because she prayed to the Lord Jesus Christ from a pure heart. 

This impressed him so much that he gave up his sinful ways and also became a follower of Christ.  He burned his evil books, was baptized and eventually became Bishop of Antioch. 

About the year 304, this great Christian and the holy virgin Justina were tortured and their heads were cut off for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We know the former magician as St. Cyprian, and honor him together with St. Justina.

This is an awesome story about the power of love.  It makes me wonder,

Will your love for Christ encourage you to guard the purity of your heart and body?

Could your love for Christ inspire others to run away from evil and to live a life of faith and service to God?