At least for Old Calender Orthodox Christians, such as myself.  Old Calendar Christians use the Julian Calendar

while Western Christians (and most of the rest of the world) use the Gregorian Calendar.  For Western Christians Theophany was January 6th.

For those of you who don’t know what Theophany is — it is the day that Christians celebrate the Baptism of Christ.

If you have read this far then I ask that you allow me to give a very brief overview of the significance of Theophany to Orthodox Christians.

In the Old Testament God revealed himself to his people by various means, particullarly through his prophets who spoke his behalf.  The highest revelation of God in the old Testament was the Ten Commandments which were WRITTEN BY THE FINGER OF GOD and delivered to his people through his servant Moses.

Christians believe Most Christians believe in the Holy Trinity.  That is to say that we believe in One God in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as stated in our Creed:

I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of
heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of
God, begotten of the Father before all ages;

Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten,
not created, of one essence with the Father
through Whom all things were made.

Who for us men and for our salvation
came down from heaven and was incarnate
of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.

He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate,
and suffered and was buried;

And He rose on the third day,
according to the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father;

And He will come again with glory to judge the living
and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life,
Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the
Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, Who
spoke through the prophets.

In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the age to come.

It was when Jesus stepped into the waters of Jordan to be Baptized by the Forerunner John that the worship of the Trinity was made manifest, for at that time God, the Father, spoke from heaven saying “This is my beloved Son...” and the Holy Spirit descended on Christ in the form of a dove.  The baptism of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Theophany: THE APPEARANCE, THE SHINING FORTH OF GOD to the world.

The Epistle to the Hebrews says it this way:

Hebrews 1

 1God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Unlike others, the God-Man Jesus Christ did not descend into the waters of Jordan with sin.  When the Son of God, Jesus Christ,  entered the waters of Jordan, he cleansed the waters of Jordan and sanctified all creation.

Jesus Christ was not illumined by his baptism, indeed the Forerunner John said “I have need to be baptized of thee“;  rather,  ALL CREATION WAS ILLUMINED BY ITS CREATOR when Jesus Christ descended into the waters of Jordan.

When Thou, O Lord, wast baptized in the Jordan the worship of the Trinity was made manifest! For the voice of the Father bare witness to Thee, calling Thee his Beloved Son. And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, confirmed the truthfulness of his Word. O Christ our God, who hast revealed Thyself and hast enlightened the world, glory to Thee (Troparion).

Today Thou hast appeared to the universe, and Thy Light, O Lord, has shone on us, who with understanding praise Thee: Thou hast come and revealed Thyself, O Light Unapproachable! (Kontakion).

Here is an image I captured at our Theophany service last year when our Bishop (Maxim) was visiting.

		Direct: Fax:	559.301.1647 559.438.7475
1319 W Bullard #4 — Fresno CA — 93711
© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqantZJ6WwM[/youtube]

… and I will have limited hours up through Thursday. I dont plan to work Friday through Sunday but God willing I plan to be right back at it come Monday next. Last Saturday was Lazarus Saturday and happens to be the day I was baptized (13 years ago – although I have been a Christian for 37 years – its a looooong story). When I was baptized my priest gave me the Christian name Lazarus, and that my friends is why my business is called Lazarus Realty.

 

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your passion,
You confirmed the universal Resurrection, O Christ God!
Like the children with the palms of victory,
We cry out to You, O Vanquisher of death;
Hosanna in the Highest!
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord!

 

It just so happens that the priest giving the sermon was the son of the Departed.   As  he stood behind the open casket containing his dear dad the priest said A lot of people ask me What is our soul they say I just dont understand what the soul is and I tell them Come to a funeral.  for me that was one of the best descriptions of a soul I ever heard because I was looking at his dad lying there and I understood what a soul is by understanding what it isn’t: The soul is everything you are, minus your body.

Let us go forth, and gaze into the tombs: for man is naked bones, food for the worms, and stench; and we shall learn what are riches, and comeliness, and beauty, and strength. [AND WHAT IS A SOUL]

From The Order for theBurial of the Dead

For an introduction to Orthodox  faith visit our Parish  Church Home Page and click the links under CATECHISMS AVAILABLE ONLINE

For help with homes in Fresno and Clovis call Lazarus @ 559.301.1647
(limited availability during Holy Week)

But what about a goose fights?

I was walking through the park the other day when this goose stopped me and asked me if I would like to watch a goose fight. I said to him “are you serious”? and he replied “sure, we do this all the time.”

Well, I wasnt about to pass up an opportunity to take a gander at a good goose fight so I ask this goose “where’s is this fight”, and he says “follow me.”

Well, then I had second thoughts, so I paused to think about whether following Mr. Goose was a good idea or not when suddenly he honks really loud and beckons me saying “YOU COMING OR NOT“?

So, I took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching us – then proceeded to follow Mr. Goose. We traveled down the bank along the side of the lake for while until we came to what I guess you could call ringside. Then this other goon uh goose comes up to me and looks me over really good and Mr. Goose explains to him that I’m his guest for the fight and goony goose backs off and lets me pass.

So here you go – you get to see in gory detail exactly what I saw and I’m sure you’ll agree that there ought to be a law against goose fighting as well.

I GUESS WE KNOW WHO WON

Just so you know. I had no favorites and I didn’t place any bets.

NEED REAL ESTATE? CALL LAZARUS.

© Randy “Lazarus” McAtee

But both Western and Eastern Christians agree on the
THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYexxEAl8Io[/youtube]

I dont think many people in Fresno have ever seen this Monastery; most probably don’t know it exists.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Fresno — Dunlap is off Hwy 180 about 20 miles before the entrance to the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

• St. Joseph Statue, Sand Color PVC, approx. 3.75″ tall
• The History & Story of St. Joseph with an Instructional Booklet
• Protective Plastic Burial Bag
• A handy Muslin tote/storage bag
• FREE Delivery via the US Postal Service 1st Class
• Standard Shipping and Taxes Are Included in Price
• A FREE listing for your home on St Joseph’s Homeseller Listing. The listing lasts until you sell your home. You can even add or include a photo!!
• The Complete 4″ Kit for $9.95

I hear they even have some glow in the dark ones on eBay.

Over 2 million of these statues are sold every year, you can even buy glow in the dark ones on eBay; however that seems needless since you’re supposed to bury it upside down in the front yard ( or maybe right side up, there’s some controversy as to the precise rubrics for performing this ritual.) At $9.95 a pop they’re cheap enough you could buy a couple of them and bury one upside down and one right side up – maybe put one in the front yard and one in the back – mix it up a bit.

After the statue is buried you’re supposed to offer up a prayer. Here’s one that might work:

“Oh, St. Joseph, guardian of household needs, we know you don’t like to be upside down in the ground, but the sooner escrow closes the sooner we will dig you up and put you in a place of honor in our new home. Please bring us an acceptable offer (or any offer!) and help sustain our faith in the real estate market.”

If your thinking of listing your property and you’re willing to price it to sell, call me, I will include 4 of these at no cost and bury one on each side of the house in whatever position you want: FREE

its important to note that some brokers/agents themselves dont (know how to utilize the internet).  some can barely navigate their local MLS!   i admit – i am among them.  i am on two MLS services: Fresno and Kings County.  the Fresno MLS uses Rapatoni which im very good at — but Kings Co. uses Paragon which im barely familiar with.  im much more adept at the internet overall than say the Kings County MLS.

when i was with one of Fresno’s largest real estate firms and the market began to turn down a couple of years ago there was a lot agents talking about how the internet was going to put them out of job – partly due to the what i mentioned above: information shifting into the hands of the consumer; and partly due to rise in discount brokers.  i suppose that to a certain extent this is true. but information is not a  subsitute for experience.

if you read my blog on the The Realtor you will see that my priest commented and made an important correction and from it i would like to draw this analogy:

i know a lot about my faith.  i read about it in MANY books including the entire catachism on this site by FR Thomas Hopko.  i have educated myself on the internet. but that is no subsitute for the experience of my priest.  i saw one thing in the video and he saw something totally different.  there’s no subsitute for a good priest.  one on one he helps me navigate my spiritual path.  there’s no subsitute for a good broker either.