Assumption of the Virgin Mary - Pawtucket, RI : 2026-08-16 Bulletin

Fr. George Parsenios (HCHC ’96)

The Christians in first-century Corinth were confused. They were former pagans who set aside their idols and their false gods to worship Jesus Christ, but their conversion was not complete. One final idol remained to be banished—the false god of their own egos. Today’s epistle reading comes from 1 Corinthians, a letter where St. Paul seems superficially to deal with a dozen different problems afflicting the Corinthian Church, but he really addresses just a single problem with a dozen different symptoms—the self-centered arrogance of the Corinthians. When they had a dispute, they dragged fellow Christians into the civic courts (1 Cor. 6). When they had immoral relationships, they blithely scandalized not only their fellow Christians, but even their pagan neighbors (1 Cor. 5). When they gathered for meals, the wealthier members proudly demanded places of honor, allowing less prominent believers to go hungry (1 Cor. 11). In today’s epistle reading, St. Paul responds to this arrogance by listing all the rights and freedoms that he himself could claim, but which refuses to demand for the sake of concord in the Church. In our own families and friendships—and especially in our Churches—we must also carefully weigh our words and actions, lest our selfish egos and ambitions create division in the place of peace. In our parishes, for instance, the most qualified people often refuse to serve on parish councils, because parish council debates often devolve into clashes between egos instead of pursuing the common good. Christian marriages also must be inspired by a spirit of mutual sacrifice, and not by a spirit of selfishness, with one spouse only giving and the other only taking. In all of our relationships, we must seek first to serve and not be served, imitating the self-sacrifice of our Lord and the humility of the great Apostle Paul.

Fr. George Parsenios is Professor of New Testament at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. www.hchc.edu

Fr. George Parsenios (HCHC ’96)

The Greek word μοναστήριον/monastêrion is rendered in English as “monastery.” It is a compound noun formed by the combination of two Greek roots. The first root is μονάζω/monázō, which means “to be alone,” from μόνος/mónos, “solitary, alone.” The second root is τηριον/têrion, derived from the Greek verb τηρεῖν/tēreĩn, which means “to keep” or “to cultivate.” Greek words that end in τηριον/têrion usually describe places where a certain activity is conducted. For example, a baptistêrion is a place where baptisms are completed. A thysiastêrion is an altar on which a sacrifice (thysia) is performed, and a thymiatêrion is a vessel in which incense is burned (thymiama). A monastêrion, therefore, is a place where solitude is cultivated. This does not mean that monks and nuns live completely alone as isolated individuals. While they seek solitude from the rest of the world, most monks and nuns live in communal settings where they pray, eat, and work with other monastics. They conduct their lives separated from the world, but they do so in a community of people devoted to the cultivation of the pursuit of prayerful solitude.