VagantePriest

(Christmas 2011) Christ is born! Glorify Him!

2011-12-24T20:08:00.001-05:00

He Who holds the whole creation in the hollow of His hand is born of the Virgin.
He Whose Essence is incomprehensible is wrapped in swaddling clothes as a mortal.
God, Who in the beginning formed the heavens, lies in a manger.
He Who rained down manna on the people in the wilderness is fed on milk from His Mother's breast.
The Bridegroom of the Church summons the Magi.
The Son of the Virgin accepts their gifts.
We worship Thy Nativity, O Christ!
We worship Thy Nativity, O Christ!
We worship Thy Nativity, O Christ!
Show us also Thy holy Theophany!
(Byzantine Rite)

Axios! Many years! (to the Antiochian Catholic Church in America)

2011-10-23T10:51:00.003-04:00

Today, October 23, is the Feast Day of St. James, the "brother" of the Lord and first bishop of Jerusalem. A very early liturgy, the one used by all of the West Syriac Tradition, including the ACCA, is attributed to him. It clearly forms the basis for the Liturgies of the Byzantine Rite and Armenian Rite, and is echoed in certain anaphorae, or Eucharistic Prayers, of the Coptic Church.

It is also the 20th anniversary of the autocephaly, or independence, of the Antiochian Catholic Church in America.

Axios! Many years!

The following are Prayers-Hymns from the Byzantine Rite, used at the Liturgy (Eucharist) in honor of St. James:

Troparion Tone 4
Thou hast received the Gospel as a disciple,/ thou art invincible as a martyr,/ and bold as the Lord's brother,/ thou dost intercede as a hierarch./ O righteous James, pray to Christ our God that He may save our souls.

Kontakion Tone 4
God the Word, only-begotten of the Father,/ came to us in the last days./ He has made thee first shepherd and teacher of Jerusalem/ and a steward of spiritual mysteries./ we honour thee, O Apostle James.

A Quick Note...

2011-10-05T23:26:00.002-04:00

....inspired by Paul Evdokimov's book The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty and Andreas Mar Cassian's homily on Sunday at the annual Convocation liturgy. The Gospel reading was Luke 17:20-37, which includes the statement, "The Kingdom of God is within [or "among"] you".

In his homily, Mar Cassian noted that "antichrist" means not only "against Christ" but also, "in place of Christ".

Here is the note:

The language of Orthodox Christianity is not that of substitution and re-presentation. It is, rather, the language of participation and communion. The former is opaque, solipsistic, iconoclastic, and nominalistic. The latter is transparent and iconic. The latter is the language of interpenetration and perichoresis. It is the language of Trinitarianism and therefore, of human community and sobernost, the language of counciliarity.

Thus, as priest, I am not "another Christ". If I am, I am in fact "antiChrist". However, my priesthood, by participation, is that of Christ Himself.

An Update on the ACCA's Financial Situation in Knoxville.

2011-05-09T12:44:00.004-04:00

I posted the following a couple of weeks ago:

An Urgent Message from ACCA Bishop Victor Mar Michael

Mar Michael now writes that enough money has been raised over the last two weeks to resolve the immediate crisis, as outlined in the previous post. For this we are all grateful to God and to all how helped.

However, he also writes that he, Avva Zakkai, Sister Miriam, and the St. Demetrios parish community are looking for a more affordable alternative with regard to a venue for worship and service. However, given the relative little that they are currently paying, it is hard to envision such an alternative, at least one that would allow for 24/7 access and use.

They could probably once again return to using the sanctuary of another congregation for weekly worship, but that would mean only having access to that space for a couple of hours on Sunday and it would make continuing the ministry to the homeless extremely difficult if not impossible.

If you gave, thank you. If you can, please contact Mar Michael at the E-mail address below and pledge your ongoing support. Even few dollars a month, each and every month, would make a significant difference. Thanks.

Mar Michael's E-mail address is: mar[dot]michael[at]juno[dot]com

Checks may also be sent to the following address, made payable to the St. Demetrios or the ACCA.

Victor Mar Michael, Senior Pastor
St Demetrios Antiochian Catholic Church
2001 Middlebrook Pike
Knoxville, TN 37921

Off to Chicago

2011-05-09T12:28:00.003-04:00

Well, it seems like just yesterday in some ways. In the Summer of 2008, Susan and I packed a rented van to the gills and hauled younger daughter Cary off to Loyola University of the Windy City. I mentioned this in passing before we left, here, sort of like I am doing now.

Anyway, it is almost three years later, and wouldn't you know it, once again as we prepare for a 2,000 mile road trip, gas prices have increased drastically. Murphy was a very wise man.

But anyway, Cary is now graduating with a GPA just a tick or two below 4.0. So congratulations, girl! Can't wait to see you in Chicago!

An Urgent Message from ACCA Bishop Victor Mar Michael

2011-04-25T18:18:00.009-04:00

Some seven years ago, St. Demetrios ACCA parish in Knoxville began worshipping in this little church building after having spent nearly 15 years renting worship space on Sunday evenings only from another congregation in a better part of town. From this location, St. Demetrios has been able to minister to many of Knoxville's poorest people, chronically homeless folks who are frequently addicted to alcohol or other chemical substances or experiencing other forms of mental and emotional illness. This ministry has taken the form of a food bank and soup kitchen; it has included inviting them to worship with the parish community, and some have chosen to do so. During the course of that time, finances have always been an issue, but Mar Michael, our bishop and the parish Senior Pastor, found it necessary to send out the following E-mail on Holy Saturday, April 23, 2011, a few days ago:

Dear Friends:

On this eve of glorious Pascha, I must inform you of an urgent situation that has arisen and ask for your help. As many of you will know, St Demetrios parish church (the property and building, that is) is not owned by us, but is leased from the owner, a businessman of my long acquaintance. Many times over the more than seven years we have been worshiping, preaching the Orthodox faith, and ministering to the homeless in this former Baptist Church building, we have fallen behind on our rent, but our landlord has always exercised great patience with us, and we have always been able to eventually get caught up. Often, money would just "show up" quite unexpectedly and just in time. God has certainly blessed us.

The last three years or so have been rather difficult, but 2010 was the hardest. As the economy has worsened, so have our contributions. In 2010 only about half of our basic expenses were covered by routine contributions. The rest was made up by the St Demetrios clergy. I sold a number of heirlooms and begged money from a few old friends. Father Zakkai and Sister Mariam were very generous as well, as generous as they are dedicated to our ministry, and most of you know how dedicated they are. They and just a small handful of others have also been personally defraying all the expenses of our soup kitchen ministry for the last three years or so. One could not hope for more dedicated workers in the vineyard of the Lord.

We were able to finish last year without owing the landlord money, thanks be to God. But 2011 is shaping up to be worse for us financially than even last year. We are already two months behind on rent and utilities (only one month behind on telephone service), and our landlord has finally lost his patience with us. We must pay March, April, and May's expenses owed him by May 1 or he will insist we leave. That gives us about a week.

Friends, I am out of heirlooms to sell. We need your help urgently if St Demetrios is continue as we have. We have only a few hundred dollars. We need to acquire about $2,020 within a week to prevent eviction.

Most of our regular parishioners have always been very generous, but there are just so few of them. I need for our ir-regular parishioners -- those of you whom we see a few times a year -- to know that while we certainly do appreciate your generosity on those occasions, we need your support all the time. In order for St Demetrios to always be there when your schedule permits attendance, we need your ongoing support.

And those of you among our more far flung friends who only know of St Demetrios by reputation, if you value what we offer and what we represent, please help us keep our precious temple. It's pretty shabby, I know, but even the shabbiest corner of Paradise is still Paradise, and it would break my heart to lose it over a matter of a couple thousand dollars. We have only a few days to make this happen. Please help us if you can and give God the glory.

I leave it in your hands, please prayerfully consider what I have written. Contributions are certainly tax-deductible. And if you are going to drop us a check in the mail in the next few days, please let me know by email [See E-mail address below].

In abject humility, I remain yours in Christ Jesus.

Victor Mar Michael, Senior Pastor
St Demetrios Antiochian Catholic Church
2001 Middlebrook Pike
Knoxville, TN 37921

Mar Michael's E-mail address is: mar[dot]michael[at]juno[dot]com

Please help if you can. Thank you. God bless you. Christ is risen!

HOLY PASCHA 2011

2011-04-24T09:29:00.004-04:00

"Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!"

THE PASCHAL HOMILY OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

If anyone be devout and love God, let them enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If anyone be a wise servant, let them rejoicing enter into the joy of the Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have struggled from the first hour, let her today receive her just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at noon, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived therefor. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let her draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he gives rest to him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has worked from the first hour.

He shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he gives, and upon the other he bestows gifts. And he both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering. Wherefore, all of you enter into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second.

You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; all of you feast sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.

Enjoy the feast of faith, all of you: Receive the riches of loving-kindness. let no one bewail their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for her iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of death has annihilated it. By descending into Hades, He made Hades captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hades, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.

Hades took a body, and it met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.

O Death, where is your sting? O Sheol, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and none of the dead remain in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages.

Amen!

The Progressive Dynamic: Tradition Part II

2011-02-23T16:09:00.008-05:00

I have written the following in response to the questions raised by John Roop's comment on a previous post, found here: In short, John asks: ""Where do you draw the boundaries of Orthodoxy?" and related to this, "So, you draw the boundaries of Orthodoxy with the ACCA inside; they draw the borders with the ACCA on the outside. Who is correct, and on what basis do we judge?"

John, I am pretty sure that others have wondered about these things as well, so I thank you for giving me the opportunity for further clarification and explanation as to our stance on these matters.

APOSTOLIC vs. ORTHODOX

To begin, and as background, let me draw a distinction between "Orthodox" and "Apostolic". In speaking of the four communions, I am speaking primarily of the quality of apostolicity, as manifested in the presence of the apostolic succession of their bishops which, in each of these communions, comes down directly from the Apostles. Further, in speaking of the very high level of consensus that exists between them (even higher when one takes Rome out of the discussion), I was not thereby defining the Tradition. I was countering the argument that there is no intrinsic organic continuity, especially in belief and practice, between the Church of the Apostles and any community which exists today and that whatever traditions any such communion may hold are not necessarily helpful in understanding the Scripture, especially the New Testament. I was also showing that these four communions pretty much always agree with each other over against Protestantism. Obviously, a large segment of Anglicanism could be included in this consensus, but the problem there is that Anglicanism is so heterogeneous. So, no, I do not think this gives us a useful definition of "tradition" in this context.

In any case, "Orthodoxy" would be a sub-category. It is characterized in relation to Roman Catholicism and/or the Church of the East by adherence to either three or seven "ecumenical" councils; by an insistence that the Filioque, if not heretical, distorts the doctrine of God and was, in any case, added to the Creed improperly, only by papal fiat; by an ecclesiology that is counciliar from top to bottom; by an existential, non-legalistic, therapeutic approach to salvation which focuses on restoring communion with God and the healing of human nature damaged by sin and death: this process of salvation, of restoration, healing, and re-entering communion with God is summed up by the word "theosis" and is made possible, in the first instance, by the Incarnation. If this list is not exhaustive, it covers the main points of difference, particularly between the two types of Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. So then, the question of the ordination of women aside, it should be clear that the ACCA is, indeed, "Orthodox." In what follows, I shall argue that far from compromising our Orthodoxy, the fact that we ordain women in fact enhances and confirms it.

TRADITION AND DEVELOPMENT

But back to the question of tradition: the word itself is defined as "that which is passed on, handed over". But, when we come to the central question of this discussion, the possibility of women being ordained and functioning as priests and bishops, one must address the question of what COULD have been passed down and why it was not. We therefore also have to address the matter of "development".

The Orthodox, especially among the Byzantines, are often quite allergic to that word, and understandably so, in that it is usually associated with changes in Roman Catholic dogma and practice, especially in terms of things that the Orthodox find inherently unacceptable, even heretical. These issues include the addition of the Filioque to the Creed; the growth of papal authority and power, culminating in the decrees of the First Vatican Council; and "ex cathedra" statements made by Popes, statements which, according to Vatican I, are in and of themselves "irreformable" and thus, infallible. The one which the Orthodox find most problematic is the statement which defines that Mary was conceived without original sin, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

However, as the late J. Pelikan points out, if one considers Church history, one must acknowledge the presence of development, but development of an organic sort. He compares the development of the Church to the development that occurs when an acorn becomes an oak. In contrast, I would speak of the development that has happened within the Roman Catholic Church, especially with regard to the Filioque and the Papal claims, as not being organic, but rather, as being "mutations" meaning that they at best distort that which has been handed down and, at worst, depart from it.

So then, if we admit the notion of development, we can look at the development that occurs in the early Church, say from the beginning to perhaps 200 CE. We will immediately notice much direct continuity: in comparing the New Testament with the writings of the early Fathers, we find nothing that is, in the final analysis, contradictory, either in terms of belief or in terms of behavior, either moral behavior or liturgical behavior. The question of Church order is more complex, but the bottom line is that the Bishops succeed the Apostles, first, while the Apostles remain on earth, as a college in each local Church, a presbyteral body under an Apostle and assisted by deacons; however, already in Acts, we find James the Brother of the Lord acting alone in overseeing the Church in Jerusalem, assisted by presbyters and then, served by deacons as well. As the Apostles depart this life, the model of "one bishop in one city" prevails, and we see that concept already firmly in place in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch. In a sense, this is not necessarily developmental, in that, along with the Apostles, Jesus had also appointed the Seventy to assist them.

But what of discontinuity? Well, it seems that the practice of communal living, found in Acts, was short-lived, perhaps never leaving Jerusalem. It is significant, I think, that in the Fourth Century, St. John Chrysostom deplored this fact, even maintaining that the Church of his time saw few signs and wonders precisely on this account. There is the also the matter of the status of Jews vs. Gentiles. In the earliest Church, Gentile male converts were first circumcised, converted to Judaism, before being baptized. However, according to Acts, this was changed at the "Council" of Jerusalem, as described in Acts 15, after Peter receives a vision from God telling him to preach to a group of Gentiles and, in the aftermath, he witnesses them receiving the Holy Spirit. Paul, also, is already routinely preaching to and baptizing Gentiles without requiring they be circumcised. While it occurs very early in the life of the Church, it nevertheless represents development, even as the Church's creation of the diaconate does, as recounted in Acts 6:1-6.

The Role of Women in the Earliest Churches

And the role of women? It is clear that women served the early Church in leadership roles, roles that would have included presiding at the Eucharist. There is Prisca, the "fellow-worker" of St. Paul, along with her husband, Aquila (interestingly, the Byzantine Church lists Aquila among "the Seventy" but not Prisca (diminutive: Priscilla). However, from the NT, it seems that she had the more prominent role in the Church. There is a growing body of literature dealing with this, but for now, I will mention only Ben Witherington's Women in the Earliest Churches which clearly demonstrates that women had leadership roles, and therefore sacerdotal functions, in the earliest Christian communities.

I don't think that Witherington deals with this example, but it is clear that there were female prophets in the earliest Churches. (See Acts 21:9) Indeed, according to the words of the Prophet Joel, which Peter quotes in his sermon at Pentecost, in the "last days," beginning at Pentecost, "God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18) The equality of women in ministry is a sign of the last days, both in general and in particular.

Now, we turn to the Didache, written before 100 CE. In it, we see Church order in transition. On the one hand, we note that the old ministries of Apostle (presumably in the broad sense) and Prophet are still around, and are still held superior to that of "bishops". However, all of these are Christian "High Priests" and all are, as one therefore might expect, authorized to preside at the Eucharist, the sacrifice mentioned in Malachi 1:11. But wait: we have just noted, have we not, that the early Church recognized the ministry of female "Prophets"!

This is but one indication of a relative equality in ministry in the earliest Christian Communities. Witherington discusses Prisca, and he notes that she is not the only woman that St. Paul refers to "fellow-worker," a term he uses for men like Timothy and Titus. Also, there is the matter of the unquestionably female Apostle Junia, and the fact that St. Paul, even while requiring that women have their heads covered in the Assembly, acknowledges that they "pray and prophesy" during worship, as he writes in I Corinthians 11:5.

So what has happened? Well, first, women continued to be called and ordained as Deacons until relatively late in the First Millennium, and the Greek and Coptic Churches have indeed revived that practice, although their ministry tends to be restricted. Also, in the First Millennium, there are sporadic denunciations of a bishop here, a bishop there, who is ordaining women as presbyters. What is noteworthy, however, is that it is not until the work of Roman Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas, early in the Second Millennium of the Christian Era, that anyone suggests that it is impossible to ordain women; rather, the denunciations say that women SHOULD not be ordained. Aquinas, for his part, says that women cannot be ordained because they are "defective males"; they are not, in effect, fully human. Of course, aside from any other consideration, this position is easily refuted by the most cursory glance at the first chapters of Genesis, which clearly indicate that both male and female are created in the image and likeness of God and that both together as well as distinctly, are called "Adam," meaning "human" (Genesis 5:1-2) Therefore, even though Aquinas is clearly basing his argument on a false ontology, Rome has uncritically followed him in this at least insofar as the RCC maintains that it is impossible to validly ordain a woman, to confer upon her the sacrament of ordination. We also note that none of the other sacraments are gender specific with the exception of marriage, and marriage requires one member of each gender.

Therefore, the question is not, "Can women be ordained to the presbyterate or episcopate?" but "Should women be so ordained?" Perhaps, between c. 100 CE and c. 1940, the answer was always "no", and today, it may be the case that in one place, one situation, a female priest is needed, while in another, one is neither needed or desirable. Along with the Byzantine theological writer Elisabeth Behr-Sigel, I advocate pluralism in this matter even as, after the Council of Jerusalem, the Messianic Jews continued to live according to Torah while recognizing that the Gentiles who were converting to Christ were not so bound.

There is also one other alleged basis for denying ordination to women, the "argument from ikonography". This refers to the biblical image of Christ as the bridegroom of the Church, his bride. The argument states that since the priest is alter Christus, he is, in a sense, married to the Church he serves. However, using this image in this way ignores the contrasting image, also found in Scripture, which is that of the Church as the "Body of Christ" and therefore, "the extension of the Incarnation". Obviously, neither image can be taken to the extent of excluding the other. To do so would be akin to arguing that since the Church is the ikon of the Trinity, it must have Three and only Three members!

Then, there is a consideration that has yet to be mentioned, the role of the Theotokos, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Beginning with the Annunciation, she shares in all aspects of her Son's ministry. She is Prophet, she is Queen, and yes, she is Priest. Together with her Divine Son, she offers Him in sacrifice to the Father as she stands at the foot of the Cross. She receives her ordination to the priesthood at the Incarnation even as she shows herself to be prophet in her utterance of the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).

We have seen that the earliest Churches included women at all levels of ministry but that this did not become part of the Tradition, that which is passed on, except with regard to women deacons, or deaconesses, but that it could have. But why was it not passed on? And, since it did not, can we justify the practice today? I believe we can.

PROGRESSIVE ORTHODOXY

As noted above, there is indeed progress, development within the life of the Church. This begins with the decision of Acts 15 (or even, with the creation of the order of Deacons). With this decision, one matter of division and domination, that of "Jew and Greek" in the words of St. Paul, is overcome. Over the next centuries, the Church and Christendom progressively address the matter of "slave and free". Until it raises its ugly head again in the early modern period with the European enslavement of sub-Saharan Africans, slavery all but disappears from Christendom. However, of these three divisions within humanity, all the result of the fall, it is clear that "male and female" is most basic. Humanity is created male and female but is not created, in the first instance, "Jew and Greek" and certainly not "slave and free" However, as a result of the fall, according to Genesis 3, patriarchy becomes the normal relationship between men and women. But, according to St. Paul, these three basic fault lines of humanity, along which not only division, but also oppression and domination arise, are overcome in Christ. And, the result, in the end, is the perfect freedom and equality of the Kingdom of God "which is to come" wherein God will be "all-in-all" and "everything to everyone". Thus, following Bishop Zizioulas, the life of the Church is not only grounded in that which is instituted by Christ in the past, but is also constituted, being pulled into the future by the Holy Spirit.

Now, as it happens, the first purpose of the Church is the salvation, the making whole, of distinct human persons. However, in the process, the Church also cannot help but affect the culture, and its associated institutions, in which she finds herself in any given historical period. Thus, the question becomes, in effect, "How does this question, or that issue, affect the possibility of bringing human persons into communion with God?" St. Paul, for example, does not take on slavery directly, but his mission and ministry begins a process which subverts, and eventually virtually eliminates, slavery among Christians. It is this same impulse that empowers the Christian abolitionists of the early modern period even as they confront this evil more assertively. In the case of the question of Jews and Gentiles, God intervenes directly, demonstrating that Gentiles, too, were called to Christ and that apart from circumcision. In the case of women, both apply. At least in the West, it has become increasingly the case that more and more people are concerned with moving beyond patriarchy, and if the Church is to be engaged, it must address this question in one way or another. Also, Christian women increasingly testify to having a call to ordained ministry, including at least one RC Saint, Terese Martin, "the Little Flower". And, in those places where women are ordained to Christian ministry, including to the priesthood, as in Anglicanism and in certain of the Independent Orthodox/Catholic Churches, including the ACCA, the testimony of those receiving the ministry of these women is almost always positive. "By their fruits you shall know them." And, once again, we can place this in the context of the words of Joel, quoted by Peter at Pentecost: "In the last days, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."

The late J. Pelikan has famously said that "tradition is the living faith of the dead while traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." Because the Church moves toward the kingdom, because salvation entails the healing of humanity, both in terms of individual persons and humanity as a whole, fidelity to the Tradition must be dynamic or it, in fact, ceases to be fidelity and becomes something else. Patriarchy, ethnic differentiation and conflict, and socioeconomic stratification and oppression are all results of the fall, but in Christ, they are conquered and will eventually be completely overcome. The Church is called to witness to this, not only verbally, but also in the way in which it lives its life.

Therefore, the ACCA claims to be Orthodox in terms of a dynamic adherence to the Tradition that, I think, will eventually be found as well in the mainstream jurisdictions of the two forms of Orthodoxy, in Roman Catholicism, and in the Assyrian Church of the East. Who judges? In the end, God. Until then, however, history will judge. "By their fruits you shall know them."

Tradition!

2011-02-14T13:49:00.006-05:00

I have been participating in a conversation with a gentleman named Derek Oullette, found in the comments thread of this blog post. Derek's background is very similar to mine, and he still remains within the ambit of Arminian Evangelicalism. This particular conversation has ended, at least there, either because of the software involved or because Derek chose to cut off further comments. Well, having my own blog and, not being afraid to use it, I will continue the conversation here, and Derek, you are of course, most welcome to resume it here as well; other readers are also invited to join in if you would like.

Also, Derek, thank you for inspiring me to write another post here.

Derek, your last statement is to quote an aphorism often attributed, as you do, to Augustine of Hippo: "“In the essentials, unity. In the nonessentials, liberty. In all things, love”

Well, we of course agree on the priority of love. One should not call onself a Christian and disagree with that. After all, "GOD IS love." However, at the same time, we are called to "speak the truth in love."

Thus, I intend to continue to speak what I understand to be the truth, justifying my reasons for holding the positions that I do, "the hope that is within me," and yes, doing so in love. "The love of Christ constrains us" and "Woe is me if I do not preach the good news." But, beyond that, this aphorism really solves nothing. In the Preface to Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, "One of the things Christians are disagreed about is the importance of their disagreements. When two Christians of different denominations start arguing, it is usually not long before one asks whether such-and-such a point 'really matters' and the other replies: 'Matter? Why, it's absolutely essential."

So, yes: I hold that these questions are essential, and in this I am in agreement with the four communions of Churches which can trace their ancestry directly back to the Apostles and their missions. These are: the two forms of Orthodoxy, Byzantine and Non-Chalcedonian; the Roman Catholic Church; and the Assyrian Church of the East. (Each of these also has certain off-shoots, schisms which, unlike virtually all of Protestantism, has largely preserved the faith and practice of its parent. I am a priest in an off-shoot of the non-Chalcedonian Indian Orthodox Church.) A great portion of Anglicanism would agree as well.

Of course, this begs the question: Why? WHY are these matters essential? Short answer: because God is communitarian and humanity, created in the image and likeness of God, is called to be a full and authentic community as well. Now, being a community requires that its members be SOCIAL, integrally related one to another. Thus, becoming a Christian in the full and complete sense of that word requires that one be a member of a visible, historical, social community which is, in fact, the re-creation of humanity as spiritual kindred of the "Son of Adam" (the "last Adam") and the "Second Eve." Christianity is not a "me and Jesus", a "me and God alone" religion any more than humanity is merely a collection of separate individuals. St. Paul writes that Christians "are members one of another". This is so because, first, the Divine Persons are "members one of another" and therefore, all of humanity is created for this end as well.

Again, these questions are: that of the nature and status of the Church and the status of its leadership; that of whether or not one is regenerated by the waters of baptism; that of the status of the consecrated bread and wine of the Lord's Supper; and the question of what Jesus means in John 20:21-23. We can also include here the need for a full account of what is prescribed in James 5:14-15: who are the "presbyters" mentioned here? How are they chosen? What is the criteria? Who ordains them and how? How is it that forgiveness of sins is connected with a ritual given for physical healing? On what basis can all of these questions be answered? And so on.

The original references from the New Testament, each addressing one (or more) of these questions, are as follows: Matthew 10:40; Matthew 16:18-19; Matthew 18:18; Mathew 28:18-20; Luke 10:16; John 3:5; John 6:35-58; John 13:20; John 20:22-23; Acts 2:37-38; Romans 6:1-6; I Corinthians 10:1-22 (especially I Corinthians 10:16-21); I Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Ephesians 5:26; I Timothy 3:15; Titus 3:5; I Peter 3:21.

I'm kind of working backward here in dealing with Derek's last comment, but I am going to skip over the matter of "haughtiness" for a moment and take up the question of the Creeds. Derek makes what is usually considered a self-evident statement, that the Creeds (or, more precisely, THE Creed, that of Nicea-Constantinople), "have been agreed upon by ALL CHRISTENDOM, not just one wing. Those Creeds reflect the core convictions of Christianity and for that reason I take it for granted that they are in union with the Scriptures."

Okay, however: there are those who profess faith in Christ but who do not accept the Creed: Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Oneness Pentecostals. We can say, as I would tend to do, that precisely because they reject the Creed, these groups are not fully and authentically Christian. I of course leave their judgment, both as to persons and communities, to Christ. However, there is an inevitable circularity there if we are going to deny that these folks are Christian. There are others who, while (usually) being at least tacitly Trinitarian, reject the notion of creeds altogether, their slogan often being, "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent."

And, even, among all those who do accept the Creed, there are differences. The Filioque, for example, is perhaps the best known, largely dividing the Roman Catholic and Protestant West from the Orthodox and Assyrian East. However, when the two types of Orthodox, Roman Catholics, members of the Assyrian Church of the East, and many Anglicans profess a belief in "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" they all mean something quite different from what Lutherans, Calvinists, and other Protestants mean.

While there are some disagreements between the Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and the Assyrians these groups agree about the Church 95% over against the diverse opinions found within Protestantism (and the Orthodox and the Church of the East usually agree with each other over against Rome). Confession of faith in "one baptism for the remission of sins" always carries differences in meaning between those who accept the original doctrine of baptismal regeneration and those who do not.

So, it cannot really be said that all Christendom professes the Creed or that even, all who do mean exactly the same thing in doing so. And this, of course, is where the difficulties lie. You state, Derek, that the Church Fathers are of diverse opinions. I deny that the Fathers are of diverse opinions when it comes to the central questions I raise above.

That is, all of the Fathers hold that the Church is a visible historical, organization, continuous in time and space and that, however this is specified, she is infallible, meaning that if one lives within her and follows her path, one will surely be saved in all senses of that word. "Outside the Church there is no salvation." Further, the councils all presume this as well.

The same is true regarding all the other questions. On these matters, the Fathers all agree, as do the four communions mentioned above which trace their ancestry directly to the Apostles and their missionary efforts. And guess what? To a one extent or another, Protestantism, and especially, Evangelicalism, disagrees with the four iterations of the Apostolic Tradition on these matters.

Which brings us back to the beginning of Derek's last comment. I have proposed that the passages I have cited really require very little interpretation. However, I ask, if they do require interpretation, upon what basis are we to interpret them? I then suggest that authorial intent and historical context would be the proper way of understanding these passages as with any other work of literature, and this means, when dealing with the New Testament, that we have to interpret them according to the Tradition in that it is the Tradition which seals the canon of the Old Testament and which gives us both the New Testament documents and the New Testament canon itself.

Derek responds to this by, first, saying that he does not want to chuck his brain at the Church door, and with this I agree, although I would add the caveat that the first task of anyone following Christ is not primarily a task of the intellect, but of the heart and body. (See below.) He also writes, " I see Scripture (i.e. the divinely inspired Word of God or we could word it another way: The authority of God exercised through the Scriptures – which is all saying the same thing) as primary in that Tradition must always be weighted against it and if ever found wanting, must be open to correction."

Okay, but give me an example. Where do you find Tradition wanting vis-a-vis the Scriptures? I do not know of such a place. Quite the opposite. If you cannot give me an example of this being a problem, then the question is moot, is it not? Derek wants to follow the Berean method of Acts 17:11. But this must presume that Scripture speaks clearly (as evidently it does not do so completely here: what precisely are "these things" and how did the Bereans verify them from the Old Testament?); otherwise, we have two hermeneutic problems, not just one. However, if one uses the rest of the Tradition, including the Creed (the "rule", or "canon", "of faith"), the decisions of the Councils (especially Nicea, Constantinople, and Ephesus), the content of the historic liturgies (the "canon of prayer"), and the writings of the Fathers, to interpret the Bible, then one is going to be certain of giving the Bible its just due. The Bible is like the bricks of a building. The rest of the Tradition is the mortar. This addresses the need that we all have, as with the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8:26-40, that someone guide us as we read (vs. 30-31).

For Orthodox Christians, regardless of nationality or any other distinguishing feature, it is all about the Tradition. We define the Tradition as the voice of the Holy Spirit in the Church "leading it into all truth", and we indeed point, first, to the Bible (in its full canon, not the truncated Protestant canon) as the cornerstone and primary statement of this Tradition. However, we understand the rest of the Tradition, especially the Creed and the liturgies, to be as inspired of the Holy Spirit as the Bible itself. The fathers are secondary, yet indispensable witnesses, especially with regard to the application of the Tradition in the lives of Christians as they live it out within the Church.

So what is left to be thought about? Well, for example: "how shall we then live?" How is the good news in all its fullness to be presented in the here and now? How can the classical doctrines of the faith be restated so that their relevance is made clear to people who think in categories very different from those of the first five centuries, or even the first millenium of the Christian era? For Orthodox Christianity, doctrine is always practical. It is always related to salvation, to the communion of humans, of humanity, first, with the Triune God and then, between human persons. IOW, there is no need to reinvent the wheel of the Tradition, just as there is no need to re-write the Bible. What is necessary is putting that wheel to its highest and best use.

Then, of course, there is the question of sorting, as Vladyka Kallistos Ware puts it, "patristic wheat from patristic chaff". A closely related question has to do with distinguishing the Tradition from traditionS. The latter is complicated by the fact that traditionS, or customs, are what, in a sense, incarnate the Tradition. Thus, while one must distinguish, in theory, between the human and the Divine in Christ, one can quickly find that in so doing, the understanding of both essences is distorted.

So anyway, Derek, are you looking for some intellectual stimulation in the theological area? Got just the book for ya: It is called Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church. (Unfortunately, it is apparently out of print; I found you the best price that I could.)

But beyond that, harking back to the question of what has priority, the intellect or the heart, while walking the Christian path, let me, expanding upon C. S. Lewis, offer the following suggestions to all, including both Derek and myself:

Spend at least as much time praying as you do reading.
Do not neglect fasting and alms-giving. They too are integral Christian disciplines.
For every contemporary piece that you read, read two ancient pieces; this was Lewis' original recommendation upon which I am troping.
For every secular piece that you read, read two by Christian authors.
For every Protestant, Anglican, or Roman Catholic work that you read, read two Orthodox works.

This is applicable always, but deserves all the extra effort that one can give it during Lent.

Now, let me return to the question of "haughtiness". This is, I guess, in the eye of the beholder, and if you, Derek, feel that I am being haughty, I am sorry. That is certainly not my intention, and I do not feel that I have been writing out of such a spirit. (Albeit I have been a bit in your face if you identify yourself completely and personally with Evangelicalism. I am criticizing a theology, not any person, including you, Derek.) I have not said, nor have I thought or felt, as I myself have heard directed at me from other sources, at least in effect, "You ain't really Orthodox, so you ain't shit." Since Derek is presumably baptized and accepts the Creed, I consider him a brother in Christ. And Derek, because of this, we would indeed welcome you, invite you, URGE you even, to receive the Most Blessed Sacrament with us.

Further, I myself grew up in a spiritual millieu quite similar to his. I understand, I think, that Derek, having not yet experienced a conscious and felt need for the sacraments, has also not yet heard the call of the New Testament to live a sacramental life within a Christian community that, according to historical and Traditional standards, can call itself a ["local" or "particular"] "Church" in the full creedal and, dare I say, Biblical sense of that term.

Personally, I heard this call and experienced this need and desire at a very early age, but there were all kinds of roadblocks, existential, intellectual, and familial, which prevented me from really beginning that journey until age 19.

In any event, Derek, please know that this conversation is, for me, all about "speaking the truth in love", the truth as I have come to understand it, and as justified by, yes, the Tradition (and, in this case, that includes the experience of all who have walked this Orthodox and Catholic path before me).

I believe, I KNOW, that you, Derek, and your compatriots, are missing out on the authentic, experiential aspect of walking the Christian path in a community that is fully and authentically Church, that is called to be, and already is, an Ikon of the Most Blessed and All-Holy Trinity. If that is haughty, I am sorry. I did not create this situation. I am its beneficiary, but that through no goodness of my own. I am, with St. Paul, the "chief of sinners". "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner."

Christ is born! Glorify Him! Christmas 2010

2010-12-24T17:33:00.006-05:00

"Come, let us greatly rejoice in the Lord as we sing of this present mystery: the wall that divided God from man has been destroyed; the flaming sword withdraws from Eden’s gate; the Cherubim withdraw from the Tree of Life; and I, who had been cast out through my disobedience, now feast on the food of Paradise: for today the Father’s perfect Image, marked with the stamp of His eternity, has taken the form of a servant. Without undergoing change He is born from an unwedded mother; He was true God, and He remains the same, but through His love for mankind, He has become what He never was: true man. Come, O faithful, let us cry to Him: 'O God, born of the Virgin, have mercy on us!” (Byzantine Rite)

Myself, Khouria Susan, and all the clergy and faithful of the Antiochian Catholic Church in America wish you a most blessed Christmas Day and Nativity season.

"May He who as born in a cave and lay in a manger for the sake of our salvation, Christ our true God, through the prayers of His most pure and holy Mother; of the holy, glorious, and all-laudable Apostles, of our holy and God-bearing Fathers and Mothers; of the holy and righteous ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna; and of all the Saints, have mercy on us and save us, for He is good and loveth humanity." (Byzantine Rite)

Update on the Pious Reader Timotheos

2010-10-14T15:48:00.002-04:00

From Mar Michael, 7:10 AM EDT, this morning:

"Dear Friends: I am grateful to all for your prayers for Reader Timotheos. He remains in ICU. As of yesterday [Wednesday] he still was unable to breathe without a respirator, remains heavily sedated, and is receiving nourishment intravenously, and so in such respects he is no better; yet the doctors have, by means of various tests, eliminated the worst of the possibilities, and now think that a virus is the primary cause. The current plan is to simply provide continuing life support until the virus runs its course. In a few days he is expected to be able to breathe without assistance and begin making a full recovery. Do please continue to pray, both for Tim and for others in our fold that are in need, as "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results (Jas 5:6)." Yours in Christ Jesus, Mar Michael"

Prayer Request

2010-10-10T21:25:00.004-04:00

Please keep the Pious Reader Timotheos Coram in your prayers, He is in the Intensive Care Unit at a hospital in Knoxville.

Mar Michael reports that he saw Tim this evening and prayed with him. Mar Michael states that Tim seemed responsive to prayer even though he remained sedated at that time. According to Mar Michael, Tim is now scheduled to be in the ICU for the next 3-5 days after having had a procedure this morning to remove fluid from his chest.

"Lord Jesus, have mercy on your servant, Timotheos."

Whatever it is...

2010-10-10T00:22:00.000-04:00

It's all Anselm's fault.

Labor Day, 2010: An Op-Ed Piece and a Book Review

2010-09-06T17:06:00.007-04:00

It’s Labor Day. Time to do this – finally. Time to review Tom Geoghegan's book Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life. I don’t know why it has been so hard. I’ve had this book for a couple of months, and I’ve read it twice, the second time with pen in hand, liberally underlining and starring and making multiple arrows.

Okay, first things first: buy this book and read it. “Read, mark, and inwardly digest.”

Yes, the review is coming, but let’s set the stage first. As we all know, the U.S. economy is NOT doing well, and for many of us in the lower 90% of income and wealth, has not been doing very well for the last 30 years. So read Robert Reich’s op-ed piece before proceding:

"How to End the Great Recession"

Got that? Except for those at the very top, perhaps the top 10%, we’ve all been receiving less and less in real wages while working harder and harder for longer and longer even though our productivity has continued to rise. To make up, we’ve been borrowing, usually against the value of our homes which were continually rising. Then the bubble burst and home prices plummeted. Further, all that capital going to the top has not, for the most part, been reinvested in the United States. Somewhere along the line, it became possible, both legally and electronically, to invest from the U.S. anywhere in the world.

Enter Tom Geoghegan. Tom is a “labor side” labor lawyer from Chicago. He is Irish Catholic (if that weren’t obvious). He ran for Congress in 2009 as a progressive Democrat, trying to win Rahm Emmanuel’s former seat. He lost the primary. He has written other books, including Which Side are You On? Trying to be for Labor When It’s Flat on its Back.

But to the present book: between 1997 and 2009, Geoghegan took several trips to Europe, especially Germany. At some point, he lived in Germany for a few months, teaching an American Labor Law course at university. The book, reminiscent in some ways of James Joyce, intersperses fact with history, travelogue, anecdote. Part of the problem for me has been I frankly didn’t know where to begin in reviewing it. Geoghegan has obviously written this book in order to advocate something in which I am in complete agreement: the ways in which national economies in Europe are structured, and especially in Germany, have much to commend themselves to the United States, especially since the U.S. is in an economic crisis that shows no sign of getting better any time soon, especially for those of us at the bottom.

What to write about this book? What facts to convey?

- Germany, a major player on the world economic stage, is doing better than the United States economically by almost any measure, especially unemployment. Germany always runs a trade surplus. However, forall that, people work little overtime, retire on time or earlier, and get six weeks of vacation each year, not to mention multiple four-day weekends, many of them tied to the Christian calendar, even though few Germans are church-goers.

- The German economic system, featuring worker “co-determination” at both the highest and the lowest levels in large and not-so-large enterprises, was created in the aftermath of World War II by a coalition of predominantly Roman Catholic Christian Democrats (the center-right "pro business" party); American New Dealers, including high-ranking military figures such as General Dwight Eisenhower; and UK Labour Party people. Thus, Germany is where “the New Deal went to live.” At the top, half of the board of directors is elected by rank-and-file workers. At each worksite, a “works council”, also elected by the workers, has a decisive voice in day-to-day matters such as working hours, who gets promoted, how layoffs are handled, etc. Because of the need for consensus, companies may find it harder to make decisions, but once made, they are easier to implement. In the United States, decisions are usually made unilaterally in a top-down fashion, so they are easily made, but much harder to put into effect.

Union membership is high, up to 60% of workers, depending on the industry. Labor organizations, such as IG Metall, focus on big picture issues, for example negotiating wages and benefits with large scale associations of employers. Thus, enterprises within the same industry tend not to compete with each other on the basis of a race to the bottom with regard to labor costs.

- Geoghegan argues convincingly that the system works better than that found in the United States, not only for blue collar working class people, but also for those, say, at the 90th percentile of income. This is the case because, while taxes overall are a bit higher (approximately 40% in the United States vs. 50% in Europe), the services received in return, such as free college education, for example, far outweigh the additional taxes. In making this comparision, Geoghegan writes of the hypothetical American “Barbara” and the European “Isabell”, both of whom are colleged-educated executives. Geoghegan writes:

“Really, Isabel is better off as a consumer because (1) she pays higher taxes and (2) the state controls her spending. It’s because she pays more in taxes that Isabel can save. While this sound paradoxical, it’s obvious in a way. A European-type social democracy is really a form of guided spending. The state taxes Isabel and spends her tax money on what Isabel really needs. Barbara, by contrast, is pretty much on her own. Think of what the state ‘buys’ for Isabel:

Retirement
Health
Education
Transportation
Child care

The state buys for Isabel, in bulk, in the most efficient way. This leaves her plenty of money to spend on her own. Barbara can’t buy these things for herself as cheaply or as efficiently as the state can.”

This comparison harks back to a major point of this book:

“…in a sense, the more we [in the United States] spend, the less socialist we become. For whether it is health care or education, we use the private market to pay for the distribution of public goods. In other words, we pay socialist-type taxes so that the private insurance companies, drug companies, and yes, doctors can profiteer.”

-While American capital has been flying around the world and being invested in derivatives and subprime securitized mortages during a free-for-all that has cost, so far, at least one trillion of American taxpayer dollars to clean up and to keep us from falling off the economic abyss, a system of government-owned banks in Germany kept enough capital in Germany to keep the system going.

-Perhaps the most important point: as Europe unites in the European Union, Germans say that one of their biggest exports, in an economy that is export-driven, is their corporate and economic structure.

In the end, Geoghegan decides that he was, in fact, born on the right continent. If he had been European, all he could do, he says, is “play defense” when it comes to maintaining the European model. Geoghegan wants, he writes, to continue to "play offense" in recreating the American economic system. Personally, I’m not so sure. Being able to play defense would be nice for a while.

Also, I don't care if the preferred label is "socialism," "social democracy," "social capitalism," "European capitalism" or what-have-you. It works. It creates economic justice (remember the Roman Catholic Christian Democrats?), and we need a much greater measure of it here in the United States.

Did I tell you to buy and read the book? Buy and read the book!

On A 15th Annivesary of Ordination

2010-08-26T01:41:00.005-04:00

Saturday, August 26, 1995. Columbia, South Carolina. The midlands of South Carolina are being drenched by remnants of a tropical storm blown in from the Gulf of Mexico. At our home some miles East of Columbia, a ramshackle antebellum plantation house, the yard is flooding, our old car will not start, and the bishop needs to be picked up from the airport. This task is assigned to Rachel, a friend of our older daughter, Ryan.

When Rachel arrives with the bishop, Victor Mar Michael Herron, who has flown in from Knoxville, we jump our car and get it running. It is time to head into Columbia. We have arranged to use a large Lutheran sanctuary for the service. Lutherans are the best friends Independent Orthodox/Catholic jurisdictions have ever had when it comes to the use of worship space. This sanctuary dwarfs the few brave souls who venture out for the service. At some point, Mar Michael and I run to the store to pick up something or other. “You know you can still back out,” he says. He has to say that. He had also said it around a year earlier when, on September 18, 1994, our younger daughter’s birthday, I had been ordained a deacon. In both cases, I declined to back out.

We transferred the celebration of the Holy Apostle Titus from August 25 to August 26 for the ordination liturgy. We also commemorated Moses the Black, whose date on our calendar is August 28. Mar Michael presided at the Liturgy of the Word and I acted as his deacon. Our younger daughter, Cary, served as acolyte throughout the liturgy. Susan read the lesson from the Letter to Titus:

“…For a [presbyter], as God's steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, master of himself, upright, holy, and self-controlled; he must hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute those who contradict it.”

Kyrie Eleison!

I led a responsive chanting of the psalm.

I do not recall if I or Mar Michael read the Gospel. The reading, Mark 10:32-38, records Jesus telling his disciples that he will be crucified and wondering if they “will be able to drink from the cup of which I will drink.”

All ordinations are another step on the road to Golgotha.

Mar Michael preached. I remember little of what he said except for some nice things about me and my family that, at least when it comes to myself, were not exactly accurate. We both then approached the altar, facing liturgical east, and I knelt, my head resting on my arms crossed on the altar. Using the Byzantine formula for ordination, he placed his pallium over my head, laid his hands upon my head, and cried aloud:

“The divine grace, which always heals that which is infirm and completes that which is lacking, ordains the most devout Deacon Gregory to the office of Priest. Let us therefore pray for him, that the grace of the All-Holy Spirit may come upon him!”

Mar Michael then offered the following prayers:

“O God without beginning or end, Thou who art before every created thing, and Who honors with the title of Presbyter those whom Thou deem worthy to serve the word of Thy truth in the divine ministry of this order: Thou, the same sovereign Master, preserve in purity of life and in unswerving faith this man whom Thou hast been pleased to ordain through me by the laying on of hands, graciously imparting to him the great grace of Thy Holy Spirit, making him wholly Thy servant, well-pleasing to Thee in all things, and worthily exercising this great honor of the Priesthood which Thou hast conferred upon him by the power of Thy wisdom. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in both worlds and unto the Aeon of aeons.”

“O God, great in might and inscrutable in wisdom, marvelous in counsel above the sons of men: Thous that self-same Lord, fill with the gift of Thy Holy Spirit this man whom it has pleased Thee to advance to the degree of Priest; that he may become worthy to stand in innocence before Thy altar, to proclaim the Gospel of Thy kingdom, to minister the word of Thy truth, to offer unto Thee spiritual gifts and sacrifices; to renew Thy people through the font of regeneration, that when he shall go to meet Thee, at the second coming of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, Thine only-begotten Son, he may receive the reward of good stewardship in the order given to him, through the plenitude of Thy goodness. For blessed and glorified is Thine all-holy and majestic name, of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in both worlds unto the Aeon of aeons.”

Mar Michael then bade me rise, vested me as a priest, and led the congregation in proclaiming Axios! Axios! Axios!

I then celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the first time, Mar Michael presiding from the chair.

Afterward, we returned to our home for a small gathering of those who had attended and perhaps a few others. Mar Michael stayed the night, and before he left, I celebrated again for him and the family, this time in the chapel we had prepared in the house itself. He seemed satisfied that I knew what I was doing, at least technically.

Obviously, much has happened since then. There have been ups and downs. However, I have never doubted that I am called to the priesthood of Christ’s Holy Catholic Church, and this calling has been affirmed by many people, both in and outside the ACCA. There has been little success as the world measures success, but God does not call us to be successful, only faithful. If I have been faithful, God is responsible. If not, then I am responsible. In any event, please keep this sinner, the most unworthy priest Gregory, in your prayers, and may our Lord continue to keep united in one heard and mind this little Church, the Antiochian Catholic Church in America, in which I serve as a priest, and may the Most Blessed Trinity unite us all in the Kingdom of Heaven. Unto Thee, O God, is due all glory, honor and worship, to the Father, and to the Son+, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, in both worlds and unto the Aeon of aeons. Amen.

Now ain't that ironic?

2010-08-24T17:03:00.003-04:00

Long suspected, now confirmed by DNA: Hitler likely had Jewish ancestry. The possibility of relatively recent African ancestry, however, is an entirely new twist. Jesse Owens, ya gotta love it!

"Hitler DNA Tests Show He Likely Had Jewish, African Roots, Daily Mail Says"

"In Christ, we are reconciled, not only with God, but with each other"

2010-08-24T15:04:00.002-04:00

Sermon for August 22, 2010, Third-to-Last Sunday after Pentecost on the ACCA Calendar.

Readings: Ephesians 2:11-22, Psalm 27:7-11, John 12:20-26.

The season of Pentecost is coming to a close for another year, and today, we celebrate the Holy Greek Doctors – that is, “teachers” of the early Church. Next week, we shall commemorate the Syriac Doctors: Mar Ephrem, Mar Isaac, Mar Severus of Antioch, and others. In two weeks, the Last Sunday of Pentecost, we will celebrate both the Latin Teachers and Trinity Sunday.

The Greek Doctors are men such as St. Athanasius of Alexandria, who vindicated the Church’s teaching on the incarnation of the eternal son and word of God, Jesus Christ, against the Arians. They are teachers like the Cappodocian Fathers, Gregory of Nazianzen, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nyssa, who clarified for all time the Church’s teaching on the Trinity, that God is a community of Three Divine Persons who are one in being, one in essence: the unoriginate, eternal Father who eternally generates the Son and Word and who simultaneously, eternally breathes forth the Holy Spirit, who “proceeds from the Father and rests upon the Son.”

Yes, our God is the eternal, archetypal community, a communion of Divine Persons who are “members one of another” and in whose image and likeness we who are human are created.

The Greek Doctors also include St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, who without fear spoke truth to power and died in exile as a result.

In the Gospel reading from the Preaching of St. John, “some Greeks”, presumably Jewish converts of Hellenic descent, want to “see Jesus”. They approach Philip, probably a Greek-speaker, and Philip and Andrew go to Jesus. Interestingly, it is not clear that the Greeks are present with Philip and Andrew.

In any event, Jesus replies: “The hour has come for the Son of Adam to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.”

Now Jesus is quoted in other contexts as saying that in order to have life, one must lose one’s life. Here, however, with “Greeks” in mind, he speaks first of a cycle of nature, and then applies the same principle to humanity. If I would live, I must die to myself. I must live for something bigger than myself, outside myself.

Jesus continues: "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? `Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify thy name." And, a bit later: “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." And then, commentary from the gospel writer:“He said this to show by what death he was to die.”

In giving up his life to an unjust criminal execution, Jesus does many things. First and foremost, he defeats Satan, “the ruler of this world”. He defeats Satan, the master of death, by voluntarily submitting to death when He, being sinless, was in no way subject to death. He defeats Satan in this way by exposing Satan as the co-opter, the usurper, who uses good things, the State, culture, the divinely-revealed teaching in the Jewish law, as weapons by which to unjustly kill the Messiah. Jesus thereby exposes Satan as the thief who, upon entering the house and encountering the owner and the police, tries to convince the officers that the owner of the house should be arrested for trespassing!

Now the possibility that the state, the law, can be co-opted in this way is a stumbling block for all people. We really want to live by the law, by force. Why? So we, in fact, can justify protecting ourselves, secure in our possessions. For the Greeks, as for us, who are their heirs, this often takes the form, not of being afraid to die per se (although we are), but of inclining toward risking our lives in causes that are not worthy of self-sacrifice.

These causes are essentially oppressive of others but in them, we can glory because we think we are purifying, not ourselves, but the world around us and thereby protecting ourselves and all this is "true, good, and beautiful," etc. As Nietzsche pointed out, these are pagan values, the values of Greek philosophy. They are essentially the values of social Darwinism. Only the strong survive: only the strong SHOULD survive. I think of Naziism. Stalinism. The Confederacy and its desire to preserve slavery. I think of the neo-liberal approach to economics.

Yes, there may be a time and place where war is necessary. I think most agree that World War II, for example, was necessary. But in so many cases, people give up their lives for causes that lead, not to resurrection and life, but only to death. In any event, the great achievement of the Greek teachers was to use the language of Greek philosophy to express the Christian faith. In the West, Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas attempted to use philosophy as the key to understand the Christian faith and in doing so, they distorted it. The Greek fathers used their Christian faith to understand and, where necessary, to critique philosophy. In essence, they nailed philosophy to the cross and when it was resurrected with Christ, it expressed a whole new reality but in the old, familiar language.

So then, if we wish to live, we too must die with Christ, along with our old presuppositions. If we do, we shall indeed also rise with him. As the reading from Ephesians explains, in dying with him, we are reconciled with all who follow him, regardless of ethnicity or culture, as we are all drawn to Christ, as He says in the gospel. We learn to appreciate the gifts that each group brings into the Church. In Christ, in his death and resurrection, the direct revelation given to Moses and the Hebrew prophets is fulfilled and completed as is the indirect revelation discerned by the Greeks and all paganisms. In both cases, the fulfillment is personal: the fulfillment is a person. The Eternal Son and Word of God-become-human, Jesus Christ.

Classical Greek philosophy is almost anti-personal (not unlike much of contemporary science). Why? In short, because personhood is unknowable. It cannot be reduced to something else. All we can discern of personhood is through its works, or energies.

A person is free. Free to transcend his or her human nature. Free to love. To love to the point of giving up one’s life for one’s friends. Free to be in communion with other persons. This is possible for us because we are becoming friends with him who gave up his life for us.

In so doing, we are also becoming friends with those who were previously enemies because they are different ethnically, or of the other gender, or because they are of a different socioeconomic class, and/or because we oppressed them or they oppressed us. No, in dying with Christ, in rising with him, all of that is irrelevant. We start to become true persons, in communion with others who are also becoming persons in Christ. We stop oppressing. We stop accepting oppression.

In Christ, we are reconciled, not only with God, but with each other.

Now, all who have been baptized and chrismated have begun this process. We continue it, at least weekly, by offering ourselves together to the Father in, with, and through the sacrifice of the Son in the sacrifice of the altar, as empowered by the eternal, all-holy, good, and lifegiving Spirit. Let us pray therefore that, in receiving in return the heavenly gifts of the body and blood of Christ, we may truly become what we are, one body and one spirit, members of Christ and therefore members one of another, for he is indeed Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Two Feasts in Mid-August

2010-08-14T16:03:00.005-04:00

Today, August 14, and tomorrow, August 15, mark two Christian celebrations, the first being primarily Roman Catholic (but commemorating a martyr who could well be celebrated by the universal Church) and the second being indeed a celebration of the Church throughout the whole world.

Today is the anniversary of the martyrdom, the heavenly birthday, of a Polish Franciscan friar who sacrificed his life by way of the Nazi yoke in 1941. His name is Maximilian Kolbe. Briefly, after the Nazis divided Poland with the Soviets in September, 1940, Fr. Kolbe took up resistance activities, including sheltering refugees, Jews and others, from the Nazis. In February 1941, he was arrested by the Gestapo and transferred to Auschwitz in late May of that same year. A little later, a prisoner disappeared and the Commandant, thinking that he had escaped, decreed that 10 prisoners would be starved to death in retaliation. One of these men cried out in distress for his wife and children and Fr. Kolbe, having not been initially chosen, volunteered to take this man's place.

Father and the other men were confined together in one cell. He celebrated Mass for them as long as he could, using unleavened bread and wine smuggled in by sympathetic guards, andvhe comforted the men with his words and presence, leading them in songs and prayers. He told them that they would soon be with the Blessed Virgin Mary in heaven. Fr. Kolbe had a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, "the Immaculata" or "sinless one". Finally, he alone survived, and was then killed outright with an injection of carbolic acid. The full story, from Wikipedia, is found here. According to Jesus, "Greater love no one has than this, that one lays down their life for their friends."

August 15, of course, marks the dormition, the "falling asleep" and the assumption of the Blessed Virgin, body and soul, into heaven. This is indeed a celebration of the universal apostolic Church. The blessed Mother of our Lord, "the first of the redeemed," is first in all things after her Divine Son and completely shares in both his suffering and his glory. Thus, she is the first to experience the resurrection after him in that her soul and glorified body are reunited in heaven. A fuller account, from Orthodoxwiki, is found here.

From the Byzantine Rite, here is the Kontakian (Tone 2) for the Dormition of the Theotokos, the Mother of God:

"Neither the tomb, nor death could hold the Theotokos,
Who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions.
For being the Mother of Life,
She was translated to life by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb."

"Through the prayers of the Theotokos, Oh Savior, save us!"

Fr. Ernesto on JetBlue Flight Attendant

2010-08-12T14:48:00.003-04:00

"JetBlue folk hero flight attendant - but why?"

"Now be honest, when was the last time you heard a sermon, on practically expressing love, that called upon people to be good customers as a loving expression of God’s care for us? And, when was the last time you heard a sermon, calling upon those in our congregations who are masters, that called for employers or supervisors or chief executives, etc., to promote just, equitable, and yes, loving employee guidelines within their companies, as part of their duty to imitate the God who is also our Lord and our Master?"

Fr. Stephen on Humility

2010-08-11T20:25:00.003-04:00

This short piece, well worth the read, is here, but the most important thing that OCA priest Fr. Stephen writes concerning this is found in a comment that he makes in response to a question:

"We do not need to defend who we are. Such defense prevents us from becoming who we’re meant to be."

Let those who have ears hear and those who have eyes, see.

Various Posts Worth Reading

2010-08-08T23:20:00.004-04:00

First, from Greek Orthodox scholar, Dr. Valerie Karras, who teaches at Southern Methodist University. In this article, Dr. Karras discussed the agreed statement on justification produced by a joint commission of Lutherans and Roman Catholic academics.

"Beyond Justification"

Next, Fr. Titus Fulcher is a Byzantine Rite Roman Catholic priest who lives here in Charleston, South Carolina. On his blog, "Byzantine Rambler" (linked on the right), he has posted an 8-part series of essays on the fall and its consequences. They are well worth the read and are all linked below:

"Image and Likeness: Installment One"

"Image and Likeness: Installment Two"

"Image and Likeness: Installment Three"

"Image and Likeness: Installment Four"

"Image and Likeness: Installment Five"

"Image and Likeness: Installment Six"

"Image and Likeness: Installment Seven"

"Image and Likeness: Installment Eight"

Finally, from Greek Orthodox Metropolitan John Zizioulas (author of Being as Communion):

"Communion and Otherness"

Thanks to my friend, Archabbas Clement, aka "Mother Charlie" for referring me to the Karras and Zizioulas pieces. Amma's blog, "Anam Cara Dei" is linked at the right.

Transfiguration 2010

2010-08-06T23:25:00.003-04:00

The story from the three synoptic gospels (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9:28-36) is familiar enough. Jesus takes his three key disciples, Peter, James, and John, to the top of the mountain. There, he is seen to be emitting dazzlingly bright light and to be speaking with Moses and Elijah. Peter makes an irrelevant suggestion. The disciples are overcome with fear. A cloud appears surrounding Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. A voice speaks from the cloud, as at Jesus' baptism: "This is my beloved son. Hear him!" The cloud lifts and the disciples see Jesus alone. Jesus tells the disciples not to speak of this until after he has risen from the dead. They have little idea what this might mean.

For the disciples, the Transfiguration allows them to later experience Jesus' execution on the cross, knowing that he lays down his life voluntarily. For us, the Transfiguration speaks of the capacity of our humanity to be divinized in union with the humanity of Christ, provided that, as St. Paul writes, "we suffer with him."

Frederica Mathewes-Green writes, "Everybody wants to be transformed, but nobody wants to change." The Transfiguration assures us that we can be transformed, in union with Christ, if we are willing to "change," that is, to die with Christ. This process of dying and rising is what living in Christ is all about. No pain, no gain. That's the news, the bad news and the good news.

For Tax Day: April 15, 2010

2010-04-15T12:11:00.003-04:00

1. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2. Therefore he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of him who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4. for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer. 5. Therefore one must be subject, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6. For the same reason you also PAY TAXES, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7. Pay all of them their dues, TAXES TO WHOM TAXES ARE DUE, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. 8. Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." (Romans 13:1-8 RSV Emphasis added)

Memory Eternal: the pious Subdeacon Eremya Jay King (Updated)

2010-03-15T15:44:00.008-04:00

A photo, taken by Mother Charlie, from convocation several years ago. Subdeacon Eremya is on the left, Victor Mar Michael is on the right.

The following has been received from Andreas Mar Cassian, Eremya's brother-in-law:

The pious subdeacon Eremya Jere "Jay" Franklin King (17 July, 1950 - 15 March, 2010) fell asleep in the Lord this morning at about ten o'clock after a long illness. When asked earlier this morning, he was of good cheer and said that he was feeling better than he had for the last two days. His sister [Amma Caitlin Turner] heard him fall from the next room just two hours later and she went to see what was the matter. He was already gone, his long fight ended. An ambulance took his body to LeConte Medical Center in Sevierville, Tennessee, for examination. It was there determined that his death was from heart failure.

In accordance with his wish, his body will be cremated. Although this is not our usual custom, he held the Orthodox Christian faith in the Resurrection and explained that God will raise ashes as well as dust on the Last Day.

His funeral will be Sunday, March 21,2010 at three o'clock in the afternoon at St. Demetrios Church in Knoxville.

Instead of flowers, donations may be made in Jay's memory to St. Demetrios Antiochian Catholic Church, 2001 Middlebrook Pike, Knoxville TN 37921.

May Christ our God, who by His death hath destroyed death, grant memory eternal to His servant, the Pious Subdeacon Eremya and may his loved ones who remain in this life be comforted with the peace of God, the peace which passes all understanding.

Two Prayer Requests

2010-02-04T18:15:00.003-05:00

Just when I thought I had a blogging/commenting plan/agenda in place, life intervened.

I have two relatively urgent prayer intentions over the next few days. If you pray, I would very much appreciate immediate prayer for these as soon as you read this, then again when you remember over the next several days. Please bring these intentions to the altar, whether as priest or lay person. Please ask the Blessed Virgin and the other Saints to intercede for me, my family, and these two intentions that I have.

Just when I thought I had a plan...

From Thomas Jefferson...

2010-02-01T23:22:00.002-05:00

An Internet Chicago friend, Frank Avila, Jr., posts the following on Facebook:

"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."- Thomas Jefferson

Personally, despite all disagreement, I value friendship very highly.

A Modest Proposal...

2010-02-01T20:25:00.005-05:00

And now, something to raise the hair on the back of the necks of readers who are "strict constructionist" when it comes to the Constitution, who believe in the possibility of interpreting same according to "original intent", and who, of course, think that God somehow ordained unrestrained free market capitalism:

"Making globalisation pay: Big corporations are using the banking crisis as an excuse for exploiting cheap labour. Is it time for a global minimum wage?"

"Just as the vast majority of developed economies from which most multinationals hail have minimum wage systems in place, it's time global corporations were made to apply similar practices in their overseas operations in poorer countries.
"In addition to an absolute rock bottom wage which they cannot go below, multinationals should be obliged to implement an indexed salary system in which workers in their overseas operations cannot earn less than, say, half of what a worker doing a similar job in their home territory earns.
"Complaints are bound to be heard about how this interferes with the efficient functioning of the free market. But I doubt CEOs and top managers would be so blase if it was their own jobs that were to be outsourced. I'm sure India and other developing countries are teeming with intelligent, capable entrepreneurs who could probably do a better job than many of our current crop of avaricious business leaders, and at a fraction of the cost.
"Besides, the free market already functions inefficiently – the rich domestic markets of multinationals are still quite well-protected fortresses. And, though we may have freer movement of goods and services than in the past, the movement of labour is severely restricted. In a truly free market, workers would go where the best-paying jobs are, rather than the jobs going to where the worst-paid workers are.
"More importantly, at its core, economics is about human wellbeing and if free-market orthodoxy fails to deliver on this, then something needs to be done to balance efficiency against ethics." (emphasis added)

On Romans 13 and Government: a post in which Fr. Ernesto tropes me

2010-02-01T14:05:00.009-05:00

Fr. Ernesto Obregon is Cuban-American. A former "Jesus Freak" and former Anglican priest, he is now a priest of the OTHER Antiochian jurisdiction, the byzantine Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, led by Metropolitan PHILIP. Fr. Ernesto is pastor of a parish in Florida. In the following, he speaks to comments I made on another post on his blog, in which I, on the basis of Romans 13, other scriptures, and the entire patristic tradition, defend the legitimacy of government as such, in that government is divinely-instituted.

"On Romans 13 and Government"

Obviously, Fr. Ernesto and I largely agree. I differ slightly with him on two points. On the first, I think it is possible and useful to think of the so-called "American Revolution" as a ("just") war for independence rather than as a revolution per se. Second, I do think it is possible, on the basis of Augustine's "just war" theory, to posit a theory of just revolution. From "the repository of all knowledge," Wikipedia, here are the criteria usually given for just war:

Just cause
The reason for going to war needs to be just and cannot therefore be solely for recapturing things taken or punishing people who have done wrong; innocent life must be in imminent danger and intervention must be to protect life. A contemporary view of just cause was expressed in 1993 when the US Catholic Conference said: "Force may be used only to correct a grave, public evil, i.e., aggression or massive violation of the basic human rights of whole populations."

Comparative justice
While there may be rights and wrongs on all sides of a conflict, to override the presumption against the use of force, the injustice suffered by one party must significantly outweigh that suffered by the other. Some theorists...omit this term, seeing it as fertile ground for exploitation by bellicose regimes.

Legitimate authority
Only duly constituted public authorities may wage war.

Right intention
Force may be used only in a truly just cause and solely for that purpose—correcting a suffered wrong is considered a right intention, while material gain or maintaining economies is not.

Probability of success
Arms may not be used in a futile cause or in a case where disproportionate measures are required to achieve success.

Last resort
Force may be used only after all peaceful and viable alternatives have been seriously tried and exhausted or are clearly not practical. It may be clear that the other side is using negotiations as a delaying tactic and will not make meaningful concessions.

Proportionality
The anticipated benefits of waging a war must be proportionate to its expected evils or harms.

One large theoretical problem immediately pops out of the above: the matter of legitimate authority. Anyone seeking to justify a violent revolution on Christian grounds would immediately have to deal with this question. As to the rest of the criteria, it is also immediately clear that one could not, at least from a Christian perspective, justify the incitement of violent revolution in the United States at this time. As Fr. Ernesto rightly points out, revolution is a dangerous and unpredictable way of attempting to secure one's political aims.

For all that, as I said, Fr. Ernesto and I largely agree. I do wish to underscore one area of agreement here. Fr. Ernesto writes, "the Anabaptists remind us that verbal violence is just as bad as physical violence. This is why Our Lord said that to even call our brother a fool was tantamount to murder." There is also the matter, as highlighted by Fr. Ernesto, of accurately representing our opponents' positions on issues; Christians must not bear false witness.

Fast of Nineveh 2010, January 25-27

2010-01-25T14:25:00.005-05:00

This three-day fast, observed in both East and West Syrian traditions, commemorates the reluctant mission of Jonah to the city of Nineveh. In the story, Jonah spends three days and three nights in the belly of the "fish". Jesus refers to his own time in the tomb as "the sign of Jonah". Once Jonah gets it together and actually preaches to the Ninevites, they fast for three days and three nights in repentance, much to Jonah's chagrin. While the book of Jonah is inspired fiction, it is indeed INSPIRED, telling the story of an all-too-human prophet who is bound by the prejudices and cultural limitations of his time and place, but who is, nonetheless, a genuine prophet, and is used by God in spite of himself.

In the ACCA, the pre-Lenten season begins with the Fourth to Last Sunday of Theophany, which commemorates all departed priests. This year, this Sunday occurred yesterday. The Fast of Nineveh then occupies the next three days, Monday through Wednesday, so this Fast begins today and continues through Wednesday.

We in the ACCA have used this fast to pray especially for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ who remain in the Middle East. This year, let us also pray for those who suffer in Haiti and let us assist both in any way we can. One easy way to help ease the suffering in Haiti is to text the word Haiti to 90999. This will donate 10 dollars to the Red Cross for Haitian relief which will be charged to your cell phone bill.

Pastor John Roop writes...

2010-01-16T12:56:00.005-05:00

...about a visit to St. Demetrios in Knoxville:

Sunday last I attended evening Divine Liturgy at a local Oriental Orthodox parish – one of a handful of places in this world I know myself truly loved in Christ. This congregation conducts a vibrant and challenging outreach ministry to the Knoxville inner-city homeless population; several dozen men and women receive physical and spiritual nourishment from the church each week.

Sunday was cold – brutally so – and several “children of the streets” sought the warmth of the church during service. One sat behind me, a chronically homeless man who has made some considerable progress in the years I’ve known him; he is now more often clean and sober than in the past. Pray God to have mercy on him. He commented –good-naturedly – on the late arrival of a homeless friend, "God, they’ll let anyone in here.” I looked around and thought, “God, he’s right. They will.” Quite a spectrum of people crowded the small church that night: politically, from far left to far right; economically, from middle class to homeless; intellectually, from sophisticated to simple and even damaged; spiritually – well, who am I to judge that? I know there were saints there, and I know there was at least one sinner, so the spectrum was represented. My friend was right: God – in God’s name – they’ll let anyone in here.

John is the pastor of Holy Trinity Ecumenical Orthodox Church, a nondenominational house church in Knoxville. The above opens a sermon he preached recently on the Baptism of the Lord - and by extension, baptism in general.

One of the aspects of baptism upon which John focuses has to do with its social implications. To be baptized into Christ means being baptized into Christ's body, "the family of God". Read it all here.

The Prophets of old continue to speak...

2010-01-04T21:25:00.006-05:00

"Bourgeois Life and the Orthodox Mind: The Importance of the Prophets"

"The institutions of bourgeois capitalism are incompatible, at their root, with the life of Orthodox Christianity."

and

"In sum, the modern world is based on the essence of Baalism: the belief in epistemological nominalism, the manipulation of natural forces for personal gain (which, it might be added, includes both magic and science), the justification of radical class stratification, legalism and litigiousness, ecumenical religion, individualism (the necessary consequence of nominalism), “republican government,” centralization of political and financial power, the continued sacrifice of lives in the name of “progress,” the fetishization of commodities, deceit, secret societies, moral compartmentalization and luxury. This is the Enlightenment at its essence, which means it was merely a “renaissance” of ancient fertility paganism, though fetishized as progress and/or science."

and, from the Fathers:

"The Church Fathers on wealth, poverty, social justice, charity, and communitarianism"

Happy New Year! (and Circumcision of the Lord, and...

2010-01-01T10:29:00.003-05:00

...Holy Name, and Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and St. Basil, and the Octave Day of Christmas.

Did I miss any?

Just in time for this Most Holy of Days (at least by number of celebrations), from Fr. Jonathan Tobias (who serves a jurisdiction for which today is Friday, December 19, still within the Nativity Fast):

"I saw Him coming"

"so did you"

"Baby God"

Nativity 2009 (Part 3)

2009-12-25T16:11:00.004-05:00

First, a Christmas hymn in Syriac:

(P/T Priest Theodosius Walker)

Note that an English translation is given in the video.

Second, an annual Christmas post from Fr. Stephen, quoting St. Ephrem the Syrian and emphasizing the smallness and humility of God as manifested in the Christ child. Pope Benedict XVI spoke in similar terms last night during his homily at Midnight Mass.

"The Smallness of God"

And finally:

"Sharon's Christmas Prayer" by John Shea, apparently published originally by Argus Communications, back in 1977. Argus Communications also brought us a book called The Last Western by Thomas Klise. Hard to get these days, but well worth the effort.

(P/T Abu Daoud)

She was five,
sure of the facts,
and recited them
with slow solemnity
convinced every word
was revelation.
She said

they were so poor
they had only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
to eat
and they went a long way from home
without getting lost. The lady rode
a donkey, the man walked, and the baby
was inside the lady.
They had to stay in a stable
with an ox and an ass (hee-hee)
but the Three Rich Men found them
because a star lited the roof
Shepherds came and you could
pet the sheep but not feed them.
Then the baby was borned.
And do you know who he was?

Her quarter eyes inflated
to silver dollars,
The baby was God.

And she jumped in the air
whirled round, dove into the sofa
and buried her head under the cushion
which is the only proper response
to the Good News of the Incarnation.

"The baby was God."

Nativity 2009 (Part 2)

2009-12-24T16:58:00.002-05:00

"Have yourself a merry little mitzvah..."

"Michigan Muslims join Jews for Christmas Day Mitzvah"

Nativity 2009 (Part 1)

2009-12-24T13:06:00.002-05:00

H/T Frank Avila.

A Syriac Orthodox Christmas celebration in Aleppo, Syria.

Memory Eternal: Two unexpected passings

2009-12-18T15:42:00.004-05:00

First, the longtime rector of the Anglican Church of the Epiphany in Columbia, South Carolina, the Very Rev. Fr. Craig Edward Young, SSC, who reposed on Monday, December 14, 2009. I did not know Fr. Young particularly well, but he did attend my ordination to the priesthood, and he was a few months younger than I, always sobering, especially when one has already survived two cardiac events. Fr. Young's obituary is found here and another Anglican priest, who lives in Charleston, has written a remembrance of Fr. Young:

"Remembering the Very Rev. Craig Edward Young, SSC"

Second, His Eminence Archbishop Job, ruling hierarch of the Diocese of Chicago and the Midwest, Orthodox Church in America, fell asleep in the Lord today. Notice of his death and a short obituary is found on the OCA website, here. At age 63, Archbishop Job was also relatively young.

Keep them, their families, and the ministries they leave behind in your prayers.

May their memory be eternal!

May their souls, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

My Exchange with Don Warrington

2009-12-14T13:34:00.004-05:00

Don Warrington is a lay leader in the Church of God, a classical Pentecostal Holiness denomination. He was raised in the Episcopal Church and was, for a time, Roman Catholic. Thus, his journey is almost exactly the opposite of mine. In any event, a while ago he posted a piece called "Why I don't agree with the Concept of the Sacrifice of the Mass". I posted a comment in reply, found at the bottom of the post. Don then posted the following: "Priesthood, Analogical and Formal: A Reply to Fr. Greg on the Sacrifice of the Mass" and I again replied, by way of a comment to this post. Don then posted "More on the Eucharist, Churches, and Priests". Primarily for convenience sake, I had hoped to confine this discussion to Don's blog, but I am concerned that my latest reply is too long for the comments section. Thus, I am posting it here.

Don, what you have written concerning the end of sacrifice assumes that the foundational purpose of sacrifice is dealing with sin. This is not the case: sacrifice, being grounded in the Intra-Trinitarian Divine Life itself, in the kenotic relationships between the Divine Persons, and, by extension, in the relationship between humanity and God, as creature and creator, precedes the Fall and its primary purpose is communion between God and humanity. (See A. Schmemann, For the Life of the World.) The shedding of blood, the slaughter of biological creatures, only becomes part of sacrifice with the Fall: “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” This is true, in short, because sin kills. Further, not even all of the sacrifices in the Jewish system involved the shedding of blood. There were offerings of incense, grain, wine, and then, there was the “Bread of the Presence” all of which point to the Eucharist (Incense is a separate issue, but is closely associated with the celebration of the Eucharist.) So, the Eucharist is a real sacrifice, offered by real priests, not so much for the expiation of sin (In this context, baptism and the Mystery/Sacrament of Reconciliation are for the appropriation of that), but for the worship of, and communion with, the Divine Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity.

Regarding Participation/Koinonia: That would work if this participation in the Divine Life were only individual, interior, and psychological. However, it is not. Human participation in the Divine Life is interpersonal and communal, both interior and exterior, and both psychological and sociological, just as is human life itself, created in the image and likeness of the Divine Trinitarian life. Again, one cannot be reconciled with God and at the same time be alienated from his kindred who are also “members of Christ” and are thus, “members one of another” as St. Paul writes.

You write: “In Roman Catholicism at least the idea is stronger than that: through the withholding of the sacraments (excommunication,) the church is capable of denying eternal life.”

Actually, the concept is the exactly the opposite. Church discipline is exercised in order to bring someone to repentance and thereby, to eternal life, never to deprive anyone of eternal life. Remember that if the Eucharist is received unworthily, such reception, far from bringing the receiver closer to God, does just the opposite, subjects the one who so receives to Divine Judgement, and endangers their participation in eternal life (I Cor. 11:27-32). Also, in all the Apostolic Churches, all Church discipline ends at the time of death; the person in question is released into the hands of the ultimate judge, Jesus Christ himself. As further evidence of this, all priests are duty bound, in the case of danger of death, to administer the last sacraments to anyone, regardless of standing with the Church, at the least sign of repentance (construed in the most general of terms): all disciplinary bets are off (or, if the person is unconscious, the priest is to presume repentance and so to administer anointing and absolution). Further, the question of infallibility doesn’t real enter into questions of discipline per se. Thus, your numbered points are at best a caricature.

With that in mind, let me address this question of discipline with regard to the issues you raise. I will return to the question of Church unity afterward. First, I am not defending Rome against the other Apostolic Churches. It has distortions which are unique to it, specifically with regard to the Filioque, Papal infallibility, and an ecclesiology which, in reality, denies the laity any role in the governance of the Church. The other Apostolic Churches, modeling their governance and the teaching role of the clergy on Acts 15, do not do this (at least not in theory, and when the bishops get out of line, this aspect of ecclesiology can always be invoked, as it often has been).

Now, having said that, and without in any way minimizing the pain inflicted on the victims, such as the martyred Archpriest, I have to ask: would you also abrogate or abolish the authority of parents over their children? Would you deny that such authority is of Divine origin? After all, many parents neglect or abuse their offspring and in so doing, inflict untold damage. (I myself am a victim of such parenting.) However, according to the Bible, both the authority of parents over their children and the authority of bishops in the Church is of Divine origin; and to abolish the latter because it has been abused would be highly analogous to abolishing parental authority: chaos results.

Just look at the world of Protestantism today: the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater. At best, leaving aside such debacles as have occurred in many of the mainline Protestant groups and focussing only on Evangelicalism, the sacraments have become optional and often disparaged and Christians have lost touch with the great spiritual tradition of the Saints which is bound up with the 2,000 year history of the Apostolic Churches. They are “blown about by every wind of doctrine, being treated to “the prosperity gospel”, “the purpose driven life” and other such aberrations.

The great principle of the Reformation, “sola Scriptura” is contradicted, meaning that, in the name of sola Scriptura, much of the Bible is in fact ignored or explained away and the interpretation of the rest of is impoverished. Why? Because, “sola Scriptura” contradicts the Bible and thus, is self-contradictory: it is an oxymoron. The Bible points beyond itself, not only to Christ, but to the Church, and the Tradition of said Church is the only nexus in which the Bible itself can be fully and accurately understood. Further, while the Churches are always in need of practical reformation (not dogmatic reformation) to one extent or another, our primary task, as individual Christians, is not to reform the Churches, but to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, through the ministry of the Church, in the transformation of each of us as persons so that we conform to the image and likeness of Christ. The fundamental rule of thumb here is Matthew 23: “do what they say but not what they do.” The Christian path has long been laid down: it is simple, but no, it is not easy. So many would seek an easier softer way, and it is so much easier, and more gratifying to remove the speck from your eye than to remove the plank from my own. (Yes, I’m aware of the irony here.)

Now, regarding the Churches proper, those communities which, all else being equal, have maintained Apostolic Succession: actually, there are four communions which can trace their history directly back to the Apostles. These four are: the Roman Church, the Byzantine Orthodox Churches (Greeks, Russians, etc.), the Oriental Orthodox Churches (Coptic Church, Syriac Church, etc.), and the “Nestorian” Assyrian Church of the East, the East Syrian Church. (I have not included Anglicanism here because it is not clear to me that Anglicanism as a whole has in fact maintained valid Apostolic Succession. In any event, it is an off-shoot of Rome and would therefore be included in the next category.) Beyond these four, there are various off-shoots: for example, the Old Believers, the Old Calendarists, the RC Traditionalists, and the Old and Independent Catholics and the Independent Orthodox (not all of these successions stem from the aftermath of Vatican I), the latter having given rise, in one way or another, to virtually all of the Independent Churches of which you speak. (Many of these jurisdictions have fallen away into their own forms of craziness. Others have remained orthodox. In what follows, I am considering only the latter. While valid apostolic succession is necessary for a community to be fully a Church, it is not sufficient.) All of this, of course, begs the question of the “Oneness” of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

IMHO, the one Church is so divided, in the providence of God, for several reasons. The first is that when it comes to the really essential and basic questions, the “fundamentals,” these Churches speak with one voice (and yes, they all say that the Christian priesthood is real and that the Eucharist is a real sacrifice). Thus, even while separated and divided, they give a unanimous witness to the core content of the Apostolic Tradition. Second, it is MHO that these divisions came about to accommodate human weakness. This is especially manifest in contemporary America, where all of these major Churches are present and we have a full slate of Independents to boot. As a nation, we are a rebellious lot. Our country was forged in the fires of a revolution and reforged in the furnace of a civil war. We take no less kindly to overbearing ecclesiastical authority than we do to such political authority (although we are generally all too ready to tolerate overbearing, presumptuous, and arrogant leadership and authority figures in the business sector, but that is another story).

Can’t deal with Rome? You got the Byzantines (who are also divided, if not separated, in this country). Can’t deal with any of the big boys? You got the Independents. There is no need to tolerate a situation in which the sacraments are downplayed or dispensed with and the Faith is mutilated, abrogated, or both. There are options!

As you may be aware, I am a priest of one of these Independent Churches. While we are not overtly charismatic (being grounded in the Oriental Orthodox West Syriac Tradition), many of these Churches are, and I think that these lines of Apostolic Succession provide a viable alternative for the re-catholicization of Evangelical/Charismatic/Holiness congregations, even denominations, that have come to realize they have hit a dead end. Personally, given that I grew up in an eclectic Evangelical/Pentecostal/Holiness environment (Christian and Missionary Alliance, Assemblies of God, Church of the Nazarene), I would love to personally lead such a congregation (or denomination!) back to the fullness of the Faith once delivered; however, that opportunity has yet to come my way.

Tebow's verse today, December 5, 2009

2009-12-05T17:57:00.003-05:00

... is John 16:33, part of Jesus' conversation with his disciples on the night of the Last Supper, the night before he was executed. There is no sports reference here at all, so Tebow is obviously thinking beyond the SEC Championship game at hand and football in general. In John 16:33, Jesus says:

"I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (RSV)

The Verses on Tim Tebow's Face Today.

2009-11-28T18:47:00.009-05:00

Tim Tebow, if you don't know, is the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback for the University of Florida. The Gators are arguably the best college football team in the country right now and Tebow, the best player.

Tebow played his last regular season college game today, as Florida dismembered their in-state rivals, Florida State, 37-10. As he is wont to do, Tebow, a homeschooled Pentecostal Christian, etched a biblical citation in the black facepaint underneath his eyes. Today, the verses were Hebrews 12:1-2:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (RSV)

Yes, this is a sports reference. The "cloud of witnesses" are "fans in the stands". Tebow probaly chose this passage as generic encouragement to do one's best, regardless of what one is doing. However, it is obviously much more than that; the race is life itself, and losing is, quite literally, not an option here. Since Tebow is, presumably, Arminian in his Pentecostal soteriology, he is probably aware of this. However, he probably does not yet know about all the tools and weapons he has at his disposal: eating the Flesh of the Son of Man and drinking His blood in the most holy sacrifice of the Eucharist immediately comes to mind.

Tebow probably also does not know the following: the "cloud of witnesses" referred to above, the "fans in the stands," are occupying no stadium on earth. They are in heaven, as is attested in Hebrews chapter 11. This passage confirms the historical, apostolic doctrine of the Communion of Saints: the Church on earth is one with the Church in heaven and vice-versa because all are "members of Christ" and therefore, "members one of another". Does Tim know this? Probably not. May the Holy Theotokos and ever-Virgin Mary and all the Saints in heaven pray for Tim and all those who are like him:

Lord Jesus, introduce Tim to your Mother and to all your Friends in heaven.

A Question...

2009-11-19T13:23:00.003-05:00

in response to this post from Fr. Ernesto:

"The Wrong Sort of 'Mere Christianity"

This question is for both clergy and laity, but especially clergy:

Why is it that we cannot, in all good conscience, say with St. Paul, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ"?

A Salutary Reminder from Fr. Peter-Michael...

2009-11-17T15:11:00.003-05:00

"Email"

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." - Jesus

Again, those links are:

Snopes.com

and

Factcheck.org

I wish I'd written this...

2009-11-11T15:53:00.003-05:00

But since I didn't, thank God that Fr. Stephen did:

"Thus God came into our world, becoming one of us, so that by His sharing in our life, we might have a share in His life. In Holy Baptism we are united to Him, and everything else He gives us in the Life of His Church, is for the purpose of strengthening, nurturing, and renewing this Life within us. All of the sacraments have this as their focus. It is the primary purpose of prayer.

"Thus, stated simply, to have communion with God means to have a share in His Divine Life. He lives in me and I in Him. I come to know God even as I know myself. I come to love even as God loves because it is His love that dwells in me. I come to forgive as God forgives because it His mercy that dwells within me.

"Without such an understanding of communion, these vitally important parts of the Christian life usually become reduced to mere moralisms. We are told to love our enemies as though it were a simple moral obligation. Instead, we love our enemies because God loves our enemies, and we want to live in the Life of God. We’re not trying to be good, or to prove anything to God by loving our enemies. It is simply the case that if the Love of God dwells in us, then we will love as God loves."

Read it all:

"A Relationship with God?"

This is, indeed, the Orthodox Christian faith of the Apostles.

October 23: St. James of Jerusalem

2009-10-24T15:58:00.003-04:00

I was, uh, kind of busy yesterday (Friday, October 23), but I had to note this as soon as possible. Yesterday, the ACCA commemorated St. James of Jerusalem, the "brother" of the Lord, and the first bishop, after the Apostles of Jerusalem. Also known as "St. James the Just," he is believed to be the author of the New Testament Epistle of James, and the authorship of the "Liturgy of St. James" is attributed to him. (No, he had nothing to do with the production of the "KING James Bible.")

According to Eusebius, James the Just was martyred in Jerusalem a few years prior to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. According to both St. Paul and Eusebius, James was privileged to encounter the Risen Lord after the Resurrection.

St. James' Day is also the day upon which the ACCA was granted to autocephalous status. The year was 1991. Thus, as of yesterday, the ACCA has existed as an independent jurisdiction for 18 years.

A note of thanks and request for continued prayers

2009-10-24T15:52:00.003-04:00

As I write this, I am lying in a hospital bed, having been admitted early yesterday morning due to having experienced a heart attack, my second. Fortunately, it appears that little damage has been done and I anticipate having a ROUTINE (as opposed to emergency) cardiac catheterization procedure on Monday. Thanks to all who are praying or are otherwise expressing their love and concern for me and my family. Please continue the prayers!

To correct some genealogical misinformation

2009-10-20T11:32:00.002-04:00

In looking for something else (ain't that always the case), I have discovered a truly bizarre mistake concerning my genealogy, published several places on the Internet. I am posting the following here in order to correct this mistake.

To wit:

My father was Rex Ralston Blevins. My mother, his wife, was named Attie Marguerite Blevins (her maiden name was, in fact, Blevins as well).

Maud Godsey, or Maude Godsey, was Rex's MOTHER, not his wife. Maud, therefore, was my maternal grandmother.

Weird.

A Long-Delayed Post: Ordinations to the Priesthood

2009-10-19T23:13:00.010-04:00

This post has been a long time in coming, since the end of May, in fact. It was delayed by my not being able to obtain pictures of the event. Well, the ACCA had its annual clergy convocation at the end of September, and I was finally able to the required shots. (As soon as I get pictures from convocation, I will post them as well.)

Back in May, the Cloistered Heart Myrrh-bearers Sisterhood and the associated Cloistered Heart God-bearers Brotherhood held an annual retreat. At that event, on Sunday, May 17, 2009, Mother Shirley Raper and Mother Jacqueline Dierring, both of the Sisterhood and veteran Deacons, were ordained to the Holy Priesthood by Victor Mar Michael Herron, Metran of the ACCA.

During the course of the Qurbana, after the Invocation of the Holy Spirit over the gifts consecrating them the Body and Blood of Christ, Mar Michael offers the Prayer for the ordination of priests. Avva Zakkai Patrick Pardee, Pastor of St. Demetrios in Knoxville, assists Mar Michael as Archdeacon.

Mar Michael lays hands on the ordinands, pronouncing the words of ordination. Avva Zakkai and Mar Michael then vest the new priests. First, Mother Shirley:

And then, Mother Jackie:
The Qurbana then continues. Mar Michael presides from the chair while Avva Zakkai and the new priests serve at the altar. Below, the three priests elevate the Holy Gifts: Together, they proclaim: "The Holy Mysteries are for the Holy!" The congregation responds: "One Holy Father, One Holy Son, One Holy Spirit, Who are One. Amen."

Mother Shirley is Priest-in-Charge of Holy Adoration Chapel, Sparta, Tennessee. Mother Jackie is Priest-in-Charge of Holy Trinity Chapel, Black Mountain, North Carolina.

Axios, Axios, Axios!

Many years!

Dormition and Assumption of the Theotokos (Old Calendar)

2009-08-28T11:13:00.004-04:00

Today is August 15 on the Old Calendar, the unrevised Julian Calendar. Those Byzantine Orthodox Churches which follow it today celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos. From Fr. Jonathan:

"Sleep and Rise, Fair Maiden, Daughter of Your Son"

The Dormition and Assumption of the Theotokos

2009-08-15T10:52:00.004-04:00

Today the Apostolic Churches, both East and West (who use the contemporary calendar), celebrate the falling-asleep of the Mother of God, "our most holy, most pure, most glorious and blessed Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary", followed by her assumption, body and soul, into Heaven, the first fruits of the general resurrection.

"And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (Revelation 12:1)

From St. Gregory Palamas: "A Homily on the Dormition"

Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr

2009-08-14T10:06:00.003-04:00

In the Roman Church, today commemorates the victory of Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan imprisoned by the Nazis. Fr. Kolbe gave up his life so that another prisoner, a man with a wife and children, could live.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, another martyr of the Nazi yoke, wrote, "When Christ calls a man, he calls him to die."

This theme of the Christian life as necessarily involving self-sacrifice and asketic struggle has come up in several places lately. Here are three:

Second Terrace: "When History Passes You By"

OrthoCuban: "On Wounds Borne For Us"

Anselm's Godblog: "Sacrifice"

and, the struggle on the cosmic level, within the human heart:

Glory to God for all Things: "The Last Battle"

Orthodoxy on the Gridiron: an Interview with Troy Polamalu

2009-08-10T22:20:00.004-04:00

(Phiro tip: GetReligion)

Freelance journalist Gina Mazza talks with Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, who is a convert to the Greek Orthodox Church. He and his wife, Theodora, recently became the parents of a son, Paisios.

In answer to Mazza's question, "What is your greatest wish for your child?", Polamalu responds:

"Without a question, my greatest wish would be for him to understand the spiritual struggle and to be a pious Orthodox Christian. That's what I want for myself, as well. Sometimes parents want their children to be what they never were. And that's one thing that I am gracious for Paisios to have: that he's able to grow up in the Orthodox church around monastics and priests that I was never able to experience as a kid - to grasp that, not take it for granted and really culture that."

Polamalu also says that if his son has to choose between becoming a priest and being a star athlete, he hopes that Paisios will choose the former.

Read it all here.

From Wikipedia (and Fr. Stephen)...

2009-08-08T10:55:00.003-04:00

Wikipedia is somewhat controversial. Nevertheless, I have usually found it to be a reliable source of information (a bit of which, on certain topics, I myself have supplied).

My friend and colleague, Mother Charlie, Archabbas of the Order of Celtic Benedictines (see link on the right), called the following to my attention (and no, I contributed nothing to this particular article):

"Eastern Orthodox Christian theology"

I particularly like the lede paragraph:

"Eastern Orthodox Christian theology is the theology particular to the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is characterized by monotheistic Trinitarianism, belief in the Incarnation of the Logos (Son of God), a balancing of cataphatic theology with apophatic theology, a hermeneutic defined by Sacred Tradition, a concrete ecclesiology, a robust theology of the person, and a therapeutic soteriology."

And then, there is this, from Fr. Stephen:

"The Fullness of Faith"

One caveat: in the above, Father goes beyond a "concrete ecclesiology" to a typically Byzantine Orthodox closed ecclesiology which he then conflates with the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. However, it is better to know one place where the concrete Church actually is, even if one finds it only there, than to either, in effect, deny the existence of that real, historical, continuous Church (Evangelicalism), or (as in the case of Mormonism) to find it where it does not exist.

Transfiguration

2009-08-06T09:40:00.002-04:00

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Eli'jah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli'jah." He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." (Matthew 17:1-9, RSV)

"After these words I glanced at his face and there came over me an even greater reverent awe. Imagine in the center of the sun, in the dazzling light of its midday rays, the face of a man talking to you. You see the movement of his lips and the changing expression of his eyes, you hear his voice, you feel someone holding your shoulders; yet you do not see his hands, you do not even see yourself or his figure, but only a blinding light spreading far around for several yards and illumining with its glaring sheen both the snow-blanket which covered the forest glade and the snow-flakes which besprinkled me and the great Elder. You can imagine the state I was in!"
(From "St. Seraphim of Sarov's Conversation With Nicholas Motovilov: A Wonderful Revelation to the World")

Commemorating St. Jean Vianney

2009-08-04T12:19:00.002-04:00

Today is the 150th anniversary of the repose of the simple RC priest known as the Cure d'Ars, St. Jean Marie Vianney. He is the patron of priests in the Roman Church, and he, along with Vladyka John the Wonderworker, Padre Pio, St. Maximillian Kolbe, St. John of Kronstadt, and the Indian Orthodox Prelate, Paulos Mar Gregorios, are among my favorite contemporary or near-contemporary Saints who are priests. In the Kingdom, where they now reign with Christ, I have this impression that they are all close friends.

Joe Heschmeyer, at "Shameless Popery", has written a piece in honor of St. Jean. It is linked below and is well worth your time and attention.

"Happy Feast of St. John Vianney"

May all these Saints intercede before Christ our God for all bishops, priests, and deacons everywhere.

Nota Bene...

2009-08-01T12:53:00.003-04:00

(Phiro Tip: St. Mary the Protectress)

From St. Macarius the Great

If a person pushes himself to attain prayer alone, when he has none, in order to attain its grace, without striving earnestly for meekness and humility and charity and all the other commandments of the Lord, neither taking pains nor struggling and battling to succeed in these as far as his choice and free will go, he may at times be given a grace of prayer with some degree of repose and pleasure from the Spirit according as he asks. But he has the same traits he had before. He has no meekness, because he did not seek it with effort and he did not prepare himself beforehand to become meek. He has no humility, since he did not ask for it and did not push himself to have it. He has no charity toward all men, because he was not concerned with it and did not strive for it in his asking for the gift of prayer. And in doing his work, he has no faith or trust in God, since he did not know that he was without it. And he did not take the pains to seek from the Lord for himself to have a firm faith and an authentic trust.

In St. Matthew's Gospel, as part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says:

"Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers." (Matthew 7:21-23, RSV)

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, in the context of the Church: it's a package deal.

A Life Well Lived...

2009-07-23T09:51:00.004-04:00

An elderly Roman Catholic woman dies in Billings, Montana.

She was also African-American. There are few Black people in Montana and even fewer Black Roman Catholics.

Her life should inspire us all.

Frances W. Dixon

Video from Andrew and Nicole's Wedding

2009-07-09T09:56:00.007-04:00

This is the last portion of the ceremony, beginning just after the crowning, with the Dance of Isaiah, followed by the sharing of the common cup, the marriage blessing, the removal of the crowns, and the final blessing. Yes, it should have been chanted, but it was very, very hot and humid. I was unwilling to risk anyone, maybe especially myself, having problems with the heat; I am extremely heat sensitive. I did chant the quama, the series of prayers at the very beginning of the service. The recording volume is rather low.

Wedding Pictures...

2009-07-06T20:01:00.005-04:00

Andrew and Nicole are back from their Irish honeymoon, and as promised, there are wedding pictures:

Above: a large gazebo serves very well as an outdoor bema.

The wedding table. Crowns are on the left.

The new family and yours truly.

Book Review: Fingerprints of God

2009-06-24T22:01:00.004-04:00

For some time now, I have been interested in the intersection between science and spirituality. If God in fact exists and is responsible for the existence of the universe, if there is something that transcends what we can see, touch, and measure, then it is reasonable to assume that there would be traces of the Divine, “fingerprints of God”, if you will, to be found within human experience.

Because of this interest, I have sought out and read books such as those by Paul Davies. Mind of God is probably his best known. Other such books and authors which readily come to mind include God: The Evidence by Patrick Glyn, Language of God by Francis Collins, and the work of Gerald Schroeder, an observant Orthodox Jew and scientist who finds no contradiction between a Talmudic reading of Genesis and the standard scientific account of the origin of the universe and the emergence of life on our planet. Schroeder, apparently, had a great deal to do with the conversion of Anthony Flew from convinced atheist to theist – or perhaps deist.

Thus, I was pleased to receive a copy of Barbara Bradley Hegarty’s Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality for Fathers’ Day. Bradley Hegarty is a journalist who, for some years now, has covered religion for National Public Radio. Bradley Hegarty says that in writing this book, she is trying to understand her own experience, having been raised in a devout Christian Science environment and then, by way of a “numinous experience”, discovering the Jesus of the Gospels, leading her to the edge of Evangelicalism and finally, “mainstream Christianity”. What Bradley is looking for, she writes, is scientific confirmation, or at least justification, for her "intuition that God exists", that there is “something more”.

Among others, a major focus of this book is the emerging field of “neurotheology”, the exploration of what happens, both during and after, in a human brain when someone meditates, prays, uses a psychodelic drug such as peyote in a religious ritual, "hits bottom" or otherwise experiences a spontaneous conversion, or has a near death experience. The instruments these researchers use are products of state-of-the- art medical technology: highly sophisticated EEGs and brain scanning machines, such as MRIs and PET scanners.

As it turns out, such practices and experiences do make long term changes in brain activity and even, in the actual physiological structure of the brain itself.

Of course, the evidence in this regard has not yet accumulated to the point where most scientists have been convinced to abandon a materialistic view of the universe, or of life. However, the researchers that Bradley Hegarty interviewed are convinced that the science is about to enter, or has in fact already entered, a “paradigm shift” in this regard.

While this is clearly not a theological book, Bradley Hegarty’s journalistic research clearly has theological implications. From a Christian perspective, perhaps the most interesting is that NDE’s and long term practices of meditation and prayer produce similar results in the brain. This gives a whole new spin to the idea of the spiritual life, specifically the Christian spiritual life, as “dying to self” or “dying with Christ”.

However, for all that, Bradley Hegarty’s book does not touch on several significant areas. First, apparently none of the research subjects are drawn from those pursuing an Orthodox Christian spiritual path: in the book, we encounter Roman Catholic nuns, Pentecostals, Buddhist monks, “spiritual but not religious” types, and others, but no monks from Mount Athos. So I am left wondering: what would their brain function look like?

Another pertinent question has to do with identifying “non-local mind” with God or transcendent spiritual reality. This is reminiscent of Jung’s “collective unconscious”. What if “non-local mind” is simply a product of humanity?

Then there is a related, but more urgent issue. What of the human encounter with spiritual evil? One thinks immediately of Malachi Martin’s Hostage to the Devil in which, for five persons, spiritual encounter has a destructive, not restorative effect. One also thinks of Scott Peck’s People of Lie as well as characters such as Charles Manson, the “Son of Sam”, Alistair Crowley, and various high level Nazis, whose ideology was undergirded by a certain spirituality. One would also note that for many traditions, Chritsian and non-Christian, it is deemed dangerous to undertake sustained spiritual practice apart from the input of someone who is more experienced and even, outside a spiritual community. Further, much spiritual literature is devoted to the matter of dealing with the egotism and evil that one will encounter while pursuing union with God. The closest that Bradley Hegarty gets to dealing with any of this is acknowledging that spirituality and certain psychiatric and neurological disorders exist on a continuum, reminding one of Jung's statement that "mystics are swimming in the same ocean in which psychotics are drowning".

With these shortcomings in mind, Bradley Hegarty’s book is worth the read. In the end, she reaches a common conclusion, one that seems entirely appropriate: while the existence of God and a transcendent realm is not provable, belief in God and another plane is justifiable, at least as reasonable as a purely materialist view of the universe.

"We done the Deed"

2009-06-22T14:04:00.003-04:00

Andrew and Nicole are now husband and wife. Many years! to them, to her two daughters, and to their families and friends.

No pictures yet.

But the two original copies of the marriage license have been dropped in the mail, all properly signed by the bride, groom, two witnesses, and yours truly, sent to the Office of the Register of DEEDS, Mecklenburg County, South Carolina.

The venue was a B and B on Lake Wylie. An open air gazebo served as the bema. One notable moment, of which I was not even aware at the time, was when the ring bearer, a very active 5-year-old boy, fell off the gazebo. I was wondering why the bride and her attendants all began giggling.

In a possible first in the history of Christian weddings, while the bride and groom spent their wedding night in the "Juliet Suite", Khouria and I slept in the "Alexandria Room", the only overnight guests in the B and B. In the morning, the four of us shared breakfast, and then joined her extended family for lunch and a celebration of Fathers' Day, Andrew's first in his new role as stepfather. In a last minute addition to the ceremony, after Andrew and Nicole exchanged rings in the Betrothal, Andrew gave each of Nicole's two daughters a ring as well, repeating the words he had just said to Nicole: "Thus do I pledge thee my life forever."

All in all, this celebration, which included about 60 guests, was a fitting way for Andrew and Nicole to enter into the communion of marriage. God is good!

Also, Sunday, Fathers' Day, was the 20th Wedding Anniversary of Andreas Mar Cassian and Amma Caitlin Turner. Many years! to them and theirs as well.

Prayers Please

2009-06-20T08:20:00.005-04:00

A little later today, we are travelling a few miles north, to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the marriage of Andrew and Nicole. Khouria Susan and daughter Larkin Ryan are coordinating the ceremony, at which I will preside. Daughter Cary will also assist. Please keep us, the wedding, and the soon-to-be married couple in your prayers, along with their families.

Yes, I am sure there will be pictures.

"For the servants of God Andrew and Nicole, who are now entering into the communion of marriage, and for their salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Kyrie Eleison."

Sailing to Byzantium...

2009-06-09T20:25:00.007-04:00

The Byzantine Rite is the complex of worship rituals normally used by the, uh, well BYZANTINE Orthodox Churches (Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Antiochians - the other Antiochians that is, etc., etc.) and the Churches related to them which are in communion with, and under the jurisdiction of, the Pope (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Melkites, Ruthenians, etc., etc.) Descended from the most ancient liturgies of Jerusalem and Antioch (as is the Armenian Rite and our own West Syrian Rite), it developed in Constantinople (aka Byzantium) with input over the centuries from various monasteries. Above all, the Byzantine Rite is beautiful.

Fr. Stephen compares it - rightly, I might add - to a symphony:

"The Strange Land of Liturgical Knowledge"

and then there is this Baptist preacher in Texas who discovers this major brand of Orthodox worship:

"Not for Lightweights"

and

"St. Anthony the Great, Part 2"

followed by

"This Sunday - St. Joseph in Houston"

What Fr. Stephen long ago learned and what Baptist Pastor Gordon Atkinson is just now discovering is that revelation is not confined to the Bible, nor even to the rest of the Tradition as recorded in the various narrative and poetic writings which bear it witness. No, the Christian revelation is manifested in a very real way in the celebration of authentic liturgy. But this revelation is not simply the presentation of information. It is also encounter and communion, a real confrontation with the glorified Christ, He Who Is glorified precisely because he is first crucified and, as such, is himself the revelation of his unseen Father. The early Christians summed it up this way: "The rule of prayer is the rule of faith."

Every discussion of the Byzantine Rite, no matter how cursory, must include the following:

Many years ago, over 1,000 years ago actually, a pagan prince in Southeastern Europe began investigating the monotheistic religions with a view toward adopting one for himself and his people. He sent representatives to speak with Jews and with Muslims, to visit Rome and Germany, and then, to travel to Constantinople. After experiencing the faith and worship of Christ as found in Byzantium, they reported the following back to the Prince, whose name was Vladimir:

"We knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such splendour or beauty anywhere upon earth. We cannot describe it to you: only this we know, that God dwells there among men, and that their service surpasses the worship of all other places. For we cannot forget that beauty."

All of the ancient rites have their own ethos, their own genius. That of the Byzantine Rite is beauty, effulgent beauty. If you have never experienced the Byzantine Rite, you should. At least once.

Trinity Sunday, 2009

2009-06-07T11:12:00.004-04:00

* Love
* Life
* Communion
* Eros
* Ecstasy
* Perichoresis
* Kenosis
* A-temporality
* Personhood
* Hierarchy-in-equality
* Members one of another
* Generation
* Spiration
* Chrismation

God the Most Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: the eternal, archetypal communion, from whom "every community on earth is named."

From Anthony Lilles, who teaches at a Roman Catholic seminary:

"Trinity Sunday"

Pentecost, 2009

2009-05-31T22:58:00.003-04:00

"When the Most High descended and confused tongues, he scattered the peoples, but when he divided the tongues of fire, he called all to unity. Therefore, with one voice, let us praise the Most Holy Spirit." - Kontakion for Pentecost (Tone 8), Byzantine Rite

The coming of the Holy Spirit heals the divisions of the Tower of Babel, not by returning all of humanity to the use of one language, but by empowering the Apostles (and their successors) to proclaim one gospel, one message of good news for all people everywhere and for all time, regardless of the language they speak. This is the first and primary meaning and purpose of the "gift of tongues". Ecstatic prayer, while possible, is secondary.

Fr. Hosea has a Pentecost homily by Metropolitan John of Pergamum, formerly known as John Zizioulas, the author of Being as Communion.

"Come Holy Spirit! Sanctify our Lives!"

A Prayer for Priests

2009-05-29T11:41:00.003-04:00

(Phiro tip to Philip Gerard Johnson)

"O Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests, for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for Your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Your tempted priests; for Your lonely and desolate priests; for Your young priests; for Your dying priests; for the souls of Your priests in purgatory.

"But above all I recommend to You the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptized me; the priest who absolved me from my sins; the priest at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way. Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen".

"For all the clergy and all the faithful, that their prayers may be a stronghold for us, let us pray to the Lord. Kyrie Eleison" - West Syriac Rite, ACCA use.

Please keep all bishops, priests, and deacons in your prayers, especially me, the most unworthy priest Gregory.

Fr. Joseph on the Ascension

2009-05-28T09:24:00.003-04:00

Today, the Byzantine Orthodox celebrate the Ascension. Fr. Joseph Huneycutt, whose tone, but not faith, differs markedly from Fr. Stephen's, has a post:

"Ixnay on XB! (With a Shout!)"

Come Holy Spirit!

Kenosis in the Life of the Trinity

2009-05-27T10:30:00.004-04:00

....as the basis of everything else, including ecclesiology.

Mother Clement and I were discussing this just last evening...

"The Church and the Cross"

Some have posited that the kenosis, the self-emptying, spoken of Philippians 2:7 means that Christ, in becoming human, somehow set aside his Deity. No, not at all; rather, the Divine Nature itself is inherently kenotic: "God IS love".

The Ascension of our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ

2009-05-21T10:21:00.004-04:00

As recorded in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles:

"In the first book [the Gospel of Luke], O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away..." (Acts 1:1-12, RSV)

The Ascension, then, sets the stage for Pentecost. It also completes the Incarnation, the process by which humanity is united with Deity, the Deity of God the Son; God and humanity are forever joined. It but remains for that unity to be actualized in the lives of Jesus' followers by the "baptism in the Holy Spirit".

From Deacon Jim Konicki...

2009-05-15T12:49:00.001-04:00

Deacon Jim serves the Polish National Catholic Church in America.

"Keeping the Slaves"

Death of a Reporter

2009-05-12T23:41:00.003-04:00

Growing up in NE Montana, the Billings Gazette was a daily read. Now, I read it online (especially the obituaries). Today's edition brings news of the passing of a legend in Montana print journalism: Addison Bragg, who for many years wrote a daily column for the paper. He was 90.

"Addison Bragg"

Another Great Post from Fr. Stephen

2009-05-12T00:25:00.004-04:00

Everything that OCA priest Fr. Stephen Freeman writes is good; however, some of his posts are especially worthy of mention. In this category of superb writing from Fr. Stephen is the following, concerning the relationship between the Saints and those of us who remain on earth. Truly, the Church is one!

"The Communion of Saints"

"Through the prayers of our Most Holy, Most Pure,Most Glorious and Blessed Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, and of all the Saints, have mercy on us and save us, for Thou, O Lord, art good and lovest humanity".

May 2: A modern "Mother of the Faith"

2009-05-02T11:40:00.006-04:00

"WE OFFER this incense unto Thee [O Lord] as did Aaron the priest, who burned incense before Thee in the tabernacle and thus withheld the plague from Thy people, Israel. Thus do we commemorate Mary, the Holy Ever-Virgin Mother of God, the prophets and apostles, the righteous and just, the martyrs and confessors and all the Orthodox fathers and mothers of the Faith, the orphans and widows, the distressed and afflicted, the sick and oppressed and all who have asked for our prayers unto Thee, O Lord, and to † Thy Father and Thy Living Holy Spirit in both worlds unto the Aeon of aeons. Amen." (Offering of Incense, Holy Qurbana, West Syriac Rite, ACCA use)

"Blessed Matrona of Moscow" ora pro nobis

For One College Student, Finals are Over...(Updated)

2009-05-01T23:34:00.004-04:00

And that student is our dear daughter. One year down, two years to go! (Before graduate school.)

"On a slightly more personal, and longer, note"

(Even though she is a Junior, Cary will apparently have to spend two more academic years at Loyola in order to complete her Environmental Science major and English Literature minor.)

May 1: St. Joseph the Worker, International Workers' Day

2009-05-01T11:37:00.004-04:00

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.

Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you. (James 5:1-6, RSV)

A Mormon College Student converts to Roman Catholicism

2009-04-23T20:32:00.007-04:00

Following a link from the blogroll on "StellarCross", the blog of my friend, Fr. Rob Lyons, I first read about Levi Checketts in Robert King’s "Thou Shalt Blog" at the website of the Indianapolis Star.

Checketts, 21, is a Junior at the University of Notre Dame, majoring in Arabic and Theology. Although he grew up in a Mormon family in the small town of Vernal, in northeastern Utah, he was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, less than two weeks ago, at Notre Dame.

I spoke with Checketts on the phone earlier this evening because I wanted to learn more about his journey from the LDS Church to Roman Catholicism. Checketts says he comes from a deeply devout and committed multi-generational LDS family, one in which the family prays together daily, attends church weekly, and which sent its sons and daughters to both Sunday school and “seminary”, a religious education program for elementary and high school students which takes place during the week, usually before school. He says his two older brothers went on their expected missions. Checketts says he has always been keenly interested in religion, in religious texts, and for that reason chose to study both Theology and Arabic at Notre Dame, even before deciding to become Roman Catholic. He says he always did well in the religious education programs in which he participated while growing up in the LDS Church.

He says he began questioning his Mormon faith largely because no one was willing to pin down a time for what is called the Great Apostacy, the idea that the original, apostolic Church completely abandoned the faith and lost the priesthood, only to have it restored by Joseph Smith. Checketts says he was always taught, growing up, that this apostacy coincided with the death of the Apostles but that now, the LDS Church is teaching that it occurred later, but is not specific on the question. He says that the LDS Church lays great stress on certainty in all matters religious, but that it seemed unable to answer the questions, such as this one, he was beginning to ask. He says he also found it impossible to conceive of a god who would abandon his people, his Church, entirely because some members, even some leaders, were losing fervor.

Finally, Checketts says, he decided to follow the instructions found in the Book of Mormon. He prayed, he says, “The most important prayer of my life.”

Moroni 10:4-5, in the Book of Mormon, reads: “And when ye shall receive these things [the teachings of the LDS Church], I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”

Checketts says he had been taught that if he did this, and waited, the truth of Mormonism would be confirmed for him by a physical sensation, sometimes called “the burning in the bosom”. Nothing happened; however, he was not yet ready to become Roman Catholic. This did not come until about a year ago, when he says he attended a Roman Catholic silent retreat over Spring Break. Those directing the retreat suggested that the retreatants use the time to pray for discernment over anything that was bothering them, that they felt they needed “to clear up”. So, Checketts says, he prayed about whether or not he should become Roman Catholic, and by the time the retreat had ended, he had a clear answer.

Last September, as a new academic year began, he entered the RCIA program at Notre Dame, and was baptized a little more than a week ago.

One commenter on King’s blog post asserts that Checketts’ conversion was probably a matter of peer pressure, that one could not “party” at Notre Dame while holding to “Mormon values”. Checketts denies he is a partier, says he found the comment "offensive," and he wonders if the commenter himself may be, on some level, questioning his own Mormon faith. He says that other Mormons, not related to him, have responded with "more charity" and have been "more ecumenical" about his conversion, even if his own family is still coming to terms with his decision.

Checketts says he is, for the second year running, President of a group of Notre Dame students that tutors neighborhood children in South Bend, Indiana, where Notre Dame is located. He says he is also involved with various international cultural programs for students. “I am trying to make the most of my educational opportunities,” he says. He also says no one at Notre Dame ever tried to convert him, that everyone he encountered there had been respectful of his previous Mormon faith.

As far as the future is concerned, Checketts says he plans to get a Ph.D. in Theology and then, to teach. When asked about the possibility of the Roman Catholic priesthood, Checketts chuckles. “I don’t think my girlfriend would like that very much,” he says.

As I was saying...

2009-04-22T10:25:00.006-04:00

"Intransigent Historical Claims"

And will be saying again: fully authentic apostolic Christianity - embodied in the Church of the New Testament, the "one holy catholic and apostolic Church" - is visible, historical, and continuous, right up until this very moment, and beyond, until the glorious Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ:

"Thomas and the other disciples who spread the faith to the East left churches in their wake (or at least, nascent Christian communities that would, just as they did in Rome, turn homes into churches and then build basilicas over them). These churches, rooted in the apostolic proclamation but developing within the cultures in which they took root, [became] the churches of the East, in Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, Persia, and India.

"There were doctrinal disputes among them, and between them and the West, but, as joint statements from those churches and the [Roman] Catholic Church during the pontificate of John Paul II proclaimed, they remained faithful witnesses to Christ. And their faithfulness was costly, especially once the East was overrun by Islam."

They indeed have remained faithful, as have the Churches related to the ancient Patriarchate of Constantinople, and we can use the consensus - despite all "doctrinal dispute"- in faith and practice which exists between these Churches -and the Roman Catholic Church-to elucidate the ancient faith of the Apostles.

Bright Week: How the Byzantines roll...

2009-04-21T12:37:00.003-04:00

Forgive me.

No offense intended. It just seemed like a great headline.

Thanks to Fr. Joseph and South Carolina's own Fr. Mark:

"Orthodox Prayers During Bright Week"

"May Christ our true God who arose from the dead, and trampled down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowed life, through the intercessions of his most pure Mother and of all the Saints, have mercy on us and save us, for He is good and the lover of mankind."

In a Nutshell...

2009-04-21T11:41:00.002-04:00

"A God-Pleasing Life"

Second Sunday of Pascha 2009: St. Thomas Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday

2009-04-19T09:28:00.011-04:00

Today, “the Eighth Day,” those of us who celebrated Pascha last Sunday commemorate the appearance of the Risen Lord to St. Thomas: “doubting Thomas”, as recorded in the Gospel of John 20:24-29. Thomas, having not been present when Jesus appeared to other Apostles, told them, “I will not believe unless I see and touch the nail prints in his hands, unless I touch the wound in his side.” So, the next Sunday, the Apostles are together again, and this time, Thomas is there also. Well, guess who shows up? And Thomas indeed is allowed to touch the body, the wounds, of the Risen Lord. And he makes his famous profession of faith: “My Lord and my God!” Jesus replies, “You believe because you see. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

Since the ACCA is rooted in the Syriac Tradition of the Indian Church, St. Thomas is special to us. St. Thomas, you see, carried the good news of the risen Christ east, all the way to India, even as Peter, Paul, and other Apostles were going West, all the way to Rome. Hence, the Apostolic Church has been present in India, as in Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome, since the First Century of the Christian era; its members in India are known as “Mar Thoma,” that is, “St. Thomas,” Christians.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Those of us who have not seen, why do we believe? First, we believe because we have HEARD. We have believed what we have been told about the risen Christ. And we believe what we have heard because we have experienced the positive change that Christ and His Church has made in the lives of others who came before us, whether parents, other relatives, teachers, pastors, mentors, or friends. And, in believing, or, in some cases, at least suspending disbelief, we have begun to experience for ourselves the transforming, loving power of the Risen Lord Jesus. If we were raised in the faith, perhaps we have never experienced a time when we did not know that the risen Christ was there for us. Or perhaps we have wandered off, like lost sheep, only to be returned to the fold. Wherever we have been, we wait, in hope, for that which we have not seen, but yet, have experienced, as we read in I Peter 1:3-9.

RC Deacon Greg Kandra, in his homily for today, takes as his jumping off point the media sensation caused by a British woman who has indeed got talent: Susan Boyle. He speaks of her as a sign of hope. A similar woman, St. Faustina Kowalska, became a special instrument of the Lord to bring a message of hope to a world desperately seeking it: the message of Divine Mercy. Faustina, born in 1905 of a poor Polish family, sought to pursue the religious life as a nun. She was rejected by many convents. Finally, she was admitted and given menial tasks. She died at age 33, in 1938.

However, she was privileged to both see and converse with both our Lord and his Blessed Mother, and she was given a message, “the gospel we forgot,” as one Polish prelate put it, that of Divine Mercy, a word to which the only appropriate response can be, "My Jesus, I trust in you." After her death, her writings were suppressed by the Vatican, possibly due to bad translation. However, when the future Pope, John Paul II, was Archbishop of Krakow, he was able to convince the Vatican, under Pope Paul VI, to reconsider Sister’s writings, and they were allowed to be promulgated. Finally, John Paul himself both beatified and canonized St. Faustina, and declared that St. Thomas Sunday be observed as Divine Mercy Sunday in the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. Deacon Kandra writes:

"I thought of Susan Boyle on Wednesday, when Archbishop Timothy Dolan climbed the pulpit at St. Patrick’s at his installation mass and declared in his first homily: “Everybody is somebody.” Susan Boyle certainly proved that. No matter what others may think, the beautiful truth is that everyone carries the spark of the divine. Every life has meaning and dignity. Everybody is somebody.

"That is why the greatest Somebody, Jesus Christ, surrendered himself on the cross – and why he rose from the dead. And when he finally appeared before his followers after the resurrection, his first message was a word of consolation to all those who feel frightened, or insecure, or alone – whether in that upper room, or in a village in Scotland, or in a walkup in Queens [or in a convent in Poland]: “Peace,” he said. Peace. It was his first gift after he had risen.

"In that same spirit, God continues to offer us another gift -- the one that gives this Sunday its name: Divine Mercy. God’s mercy says to us, very simply, 'You are loved -- no matter what. Because everybody is somebody.'

"I think we get a glimpse of that in today’s gospel. It gives us the familiar scene of Jesus appearing to a doubting Thomas, offering tangible proof that he has risen. 'Put your finger here and see my hands,' Jesus says. 'Bring your hand and put it into my side….do not be unbelieving, but believe.'

"But here, we encounter something the world had never known before: we encounter a God with scars. Wounds. A God who has endured pain, and suffered, and bled.

"That invitation to Thomas is also Christ’s invitation to us: 'See,' he says. 'I have known great pain. I understand.'

"He has walked with us, struggled with us, fallen with us, shed water and blood for us. He did it for you and me. He did it for the Susan Boyles of the world. Those who are hurt, or grieving, or dreaming. He did it for all of us, even those who have wandered away, or who doubt – all of the Thomases among us."

Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor.” St. Paul writes that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of humanity, that the weakness of God stronger than the strength of men. He also writes:

“Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are…” (I Cor. 1:26b-28, RSV).

This is the power of the resurrection, manifested in the lives of people like Susan Boyle, a devout Roman Catholic, and St. Faustina, and as manifested in the ministries and martyrdoms of a motley band of Gallilean fishermen, the Apostles, including St. Thomas, to whose number was later added a renegade Rabbi, St. Paul. To the incarnate, crucified, and risen Eternal Son and Word of God, to His Eternal Father, and to the all-Holy, Good, and Lifegiving Eternal Spirit, one God, be glory and honor in both worlds and unto the Aeon of aeons. Amen.

Holy Pascha 2009

2009-04-12T01:05:00.002-04:00

"Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!"

"Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered. Let those who hate him flee from before his face..."

May your celebration of the resurrection of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ (whether today or a week from today), be most blessed. Christ is risen! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Holy Week 2009: The Great Sabbath

2009-04-11T19:00:00.002-04:00

From an ancient homily for Holy Saturday (as found in an official English translation of the Office of Readings of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church):

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

Holy Week 2009: Great and Holy Friday

2009-04-10T09:36:00.006-04:00

"And the earth quakes in its pain, to behold its creator slain" - Kergyma, after Byzantine Rite

"In this world Christ was rejected. He was the perfect expression of life as God intended it. The fragmentary life of the world was gathered into his life; He was the heart beat of the world and the world killed him. But in that murder the world itself died. It lost its last chance to become the paradise God created it to be." Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World

Fr. Stephen on Good Friday, Western and Byzantine: "From Friday to Friday"

"We have struggled for too long as Christians under the yoke of moralism, in which everything of Christ’s is interpreted in moralistic terms - geared only towards our legal admission into heaven.

"This moralism is a caricature of true Christianity. Were the impacts of Christ’s victory on our existence to be forgotten - the faith would be in danger of its own death. If moralism disappears - it will doubtless be replaced by another. Moralism is simple, useful for judging others, and plays well in a world dominated by its neurotic psychological fantasies.
"To understand instead that sin is death - that it attacks us at the very point of our existence - is a different matter altogether. Humanity stands poised at the edge of an abyss - driven there by its own defiance of God - Who alone gives us life and all things. The daily events on the world stage are only a tragic opera that illustrate the inner drama of our lives. In our hearts we are the insane builders of weapons. We are the suicide bombers (a fitting image for much of our sin)."

Holy Week 2009: Bridegroom Vespers

2009-04-08T10:05:00.006-04:00

In the ACCA, as in the Byzantine Rite, there is a special service of Vespers, or Evening Prayer, which is offered on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of Holy Week, called "Bridegroom Vespers". It is called this because the focus of the service is Jesus' Parable of the Bridegroom, also known as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.

The Scripture reference is Matthew 25:1-13 (RSV):

[Jesus said,] "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, `Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, `Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, `Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

This homily was originally given a year ago at St. Demetrios in Knoxville.

In each of the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, just prior to the recounting of His death and resurrection, Jesus discusses the Eschaton, the end of history. The approach of the Gospel of John is slightly different, but in all four gospels, one thing is clear: the end of history, “the last days” begins with the execution and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In this parable, the Lord concludes by calling upon us to “watch.” We can know neither the day nor the hour of his appearing. This applies not only to the end of history, to the Lord’s return “in glory to judge both the living and the dead,” but to the moment of our own personal eschaton, our own death. Now we do not know if we shall be alive in the flesh when the Lord returns; however, we do know, barring the Second Coming, that each of us one day will leave this earthly life behind, and for that, we are called to be ready, our lamps full of the oil of the Holy Spirit, and with oil to spare, oil that we have purchased with our very life, in which we have been, and are being, "crucified with Christ". This is indeed our own personal apocalypse, and mine is mine alone, and yours, yours alone.

One major difference between our Tradition and Evangelicalism is that we take very seriously the communitarian aspects of the Christian faith. For us, in one sense, everything begins and ends with the Church. However, within the context of this Community, founded by the Lord himself and enlivened by the burning oil of the Holy Spirit, there is, in another sense, an individual relationship with the Lord that is uniquely mine, uniquely yours. There is a place in my heart, the wedding chamber if you will, the Holy of Holies, where no one can enter but myself and the Lord. In this sense, I cannot share my oil with you, nor you with me. I cannot be baptized for you, nor receive the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit in chrismation on your behalf. I cannot be absolved for your sins, nor you for mine. I cannot receive the Body and Blood of the Lord in your place, nor you in mine.

We can and should pray for each other, but I cannot do your praying for you, nor you for me. Hence, this message to watch, to be ready, to stay awake, is uniquely addressed to each of us as distinct persons. And yet, because the bridegroom is delayed, it is assumed that we will, each of us, fall asleep, only to awaken when the call is given: “The Bridegroom is coming.” Therefore, knowing this, we must, when awake, take care to have stored up for ourselves an adequate supply of oil. This is one reason why the Church gives us the seasons of Lent and Advent, so that, for a few weeks, we might focus on repentance, on acquiring the oil that we need. This is why we are called to fast regularly, usually twice a week, in order to focus more carefully on prayer, and are called, upon all occasions, to give of ourselves, and of our time, talent, and treasure, in service to others.

However, we cannot stress enough that the God-given context for this individual relationship with Christ is the Community of the Church, the very Body of Christ. Indeed, in the Orthodox traditions, temples are designed, on the basis of the old Temple in Jerusalem, with this in mind. Our temples are macrocosms of the microcosmic temple of the heart, and vice-versa. Further, if you keep your individual lamp burning, you will shed its light on us, and will encourage each of us to do the same. While there are some things that only I can do, things that only you can do, there is nothing that I do, that you do, that does not impact the Community, the Church, as a whole, either for good or for ill.

We are a team, but as on every team, each member has his or her own role to play, and each of these roles is indispensable. The Church, this Community, is the Body of Christ, and because we are each “members of Christ,” we are, as St. Paul also writes, “members one of another” just as the Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are “members one of another” from all eternity. Thus, the Church, the Body of Christ, who is "the Last Adam," is humanity re-created in the image and likeness of God and is therefore the ikon of the eternally communitarian Godhead.

Therefore, at the end of the Great Fast, as we prepare to enter into the Passover mystery of our Lord’s death and resurrection, let us, indeed, obtain for ourselves an ever greater measure of this precious oil. If we have not yet gone to Confession during the Fast, let us by all means do so. If we need to reconcile ourselves with someone, let us do that. Whatever the Lord is calling each of us to do in this regard, let us accomplish it, and by all means, let us continue to watch and pray, and to pray for those who have left our community. We are at this moment awake, it may be later than we think, and the Bridegroom is indeed arriving soon. To Him be all glory, honor, power, and worship, together with His unoriginate Father+, and the all-Holy, Good, and Lifegiving Spirit, One God in both worlds unto the Aeon of aeons. Amen.

Also, Fr. Stephen has already posted an excellent meditation on the Bridegroom motiff in the context of Holy Week (even though for the Byzantine Orthodox, Holy Week is next week). In it, Fr. Stephen writes:

"It is time again to forgive one another. If I stand with the humble Bridegroom and hear His words of humility: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (he offers no blame), how can I not with Him readily forgive all who have reason to hate me, or who hate me for no reason at all, or whom I hate (sinner that I am) even though their sins against me justly invite my wrath? Do I even dare to think of justice when the judgment of God looms so near? No, forgiveness can and must be given now! Rush to forgive - tell them quickly that their debt has been reduced or even taken away.

"The coins with which we must purchase oil for our lamps as we follow the Bridegroom into His bridal chamber, can only be obtained by giving away the currency of our self-righteousness and the wealth of our grudges."

It is found here. Do read it all.

"Love covers a multitude of sins."

They're WHAT?

2009-04-08T09:57:00.004-04:00

OOPS!

Student editors at Brigham Young University are red-faced today, it seems.

Holy Week 2009: Hosanna Sunday

2009-04-05T22:28:00.007-04:00

First Reading (Phil. 2:5-11, RSV):

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Psalm (118:22-26, RSV):

"The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is the LORD's doing;it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made;let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech thee, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech thee, give us success! Blessed be he who enters in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD."

Gospel (John 12:12-19, RSV)

"The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of Zion;behold, your king is coming,sitting on an ass's colt!" His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. The Pharisees then said to one another, "You see that you can do nothing; look, the world has gone after him."

"The reason the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign." The sign in question is the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-44). It is also because of this act on Jesus' part, according to John 11:45-12:11, that Jesus' powerful enemies decide that he must die (and Lazarus too). So, today, on Palm Sunday, Hosanna Sunday, the crowd comes out to acclaim Jesus, but on Friday, that same crowd will cry out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Let us never forget that WE are a part of that crowd: WE crucify the Lord of glory.

And yet, He loves us with an everlasting, infinite love and desires nothing so much than that we love him in return and be united with him forever.

This week:
Pray: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Go to Confession.
Reflect on the Most Blessed Trinity's everlasting and infinite love for us, "the sheep that had gone astray," revealed in the execution of Jesus Christ the Eternal Word of God.

Saints Perpetua, Felicity, and their Companions, Holy Martyrs

2009-03-11T15:46:00.004-04:00

I failed to note it on the blog this year, but last Saturday was the patronal feast of our ministry here in South Carolina. Below is an edited re-post from last year.

March 7 commemorates Saints Perpetua, Felicity, and their companions, who witnessed to the Faith by the shedding of their blood around the year AD 202 in Carthage, North Africa:

Passion of Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs

At the heart of their story is the testimony of St. Felicity as she gave birth in prison:

"But respecting Felicity... when she had already gone eight months with child (for she had been pregnant when she was apprehended), as the day of the exhibition was drawing near, she was in great grief lest on account of her pregnancy she should be delayed,—because pregnant women are not allowed to be publicly punished,—and lest she should shed her sacred and guiltless blood among some who had been wicked subsequently. Moreover, also, her fellow-martyrs were painfully saddened lest they should leave so excellent a friend, and as it were companion, alone in the path of the same hope. Therefore, joining together their united cry, they poured forth their prayer to the Lord three days before the exhibition. Immediately after their prayer her pains came upon her, and when, with the difficulty natural to an eight months' delivery, in the labour of bringing forth she was sorrowing, [a guard] said to her, 'You who are in such suffering now, what will you do when you are thrown to the beasts, which you despised when you refused to sacrifice?'
And she replied, 'Now it is I that suffer what I suffer; but then there will be another in me, who will suffer for me, because I also am about to suffer for Him.'
Thus she brought forth a little girl, which a certain sister brought up as her daughter." (5:2)

Charles Williams was of the opinion that in saying this, Felicity was found to have been placed in the ranks of the Doctors of the Church.

"Holy Martyrs of Carthage, Perpetua, Felicity, and Companions, pray to God for us that our souls may be saved."

Lenten Reading

2009-03-11T12:08:00.014-04:00

I have just finished a book by Barbara Tuchman, called A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. A work of popular history (Tuchman was self-educated but, for all that, still won a couple of Pulitzers), the book largely draws upon primary sources to deal with the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, fought intermittently over a century and more, almost entirely on French soil. However, it also casts a spotlight across Western Europe and beyond during the period, extending into the 15th Century. The book’s focus is the life of one French nobleman, Enguerrand VI, the last sire of Coucy, a large holding in the North of France, near the English Channel, and a distant ancestor of a future French monarch. As the title implies, Tuchman is writing with an eye toward viewing the contemporary world through the reflection cast upon it by an era long past.

The period in question is characterized by a number of phenomena which are traumatic by any standard: black death (Tuchman takes the conventional view that this was bubonic plague; others have argued, convincingly to me, that the medieval plagues were rather a form of hemorhagic fever, perhaps caused by Ebola or a close viral relative), which reduced population levels by as much as 50 percent over a century; interminable fighting, not only between England and France or between Christendom and Islam, but also in private wars between various nobles, the results of which, through destruction of crops and other disruptions, disproportionately affected the lives of those at the bottom of the socioeconomic pile and therefore least able to cope; openly regressive taxation; popular uprisings; conspicuous consumption by nobles, wealthy merchants, rising bureaucrats, and the upper clergy; widespread sexual profligacy; and so on.

From a Christian point of view, perhaps the most depressing characteristic of this period is the relationship between the Church and the rest of society. While all of society was nominally Christian, few seemed to take the Church's teachings seriously, the only exception perhaps being just prior to death. The Papacy was, for many years, ensconced in the “Babylonian Exile” at Avignon. Since Avignon was in France, and these Popes mostly French, they were largely instruments of French Imperial Policy. On the attempt to return the Papacy to Rome, prompted by St. Catherine of Siena, a longstanding schism was created, resulting in two Popes, one in Avignon, the other in Rome, and all of Western Europe was divided. England and France, of course, were on opposite sides of papal allegiance. From the Pope(s), down to the poorest parish priest, everything the Church had to offer was for sale. This, of course, gave rise to various reform movements, all of them more or less heretical, which prepared the way for Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, and the rest, and, providentially, for the reforms of the Council of Trent, two centuries later.

For all that, however, the era was not without signs of hope, primarily manifested in the careers of Saints. Catherine of Siena was one of them. Joan of Arc was another. Besides these, many man and women, religious and lay, worshiped, celebrated and received the sacraments, prayed, fasted, cared for the sick and helped the poor, motivated by their love for the suffering Christ and His sorrowful Mother, manifested in the sufferings of men and women with whom they lived and worked. Inspired and healed by the Holy Spirit, these men and women, of course, are the hope of the world; they were then, and are now. It is because of their prayers and other activities that societies do not collapse into utter chaos. During Lent, inspired by their examples, let us dedouble our efforts to contribute, in whatever way we can, not only to our own salvation, but to the survival, if not the salvation, of the whole world.

Second Sunday in Lent

2009-03-08T20:09:00.005-04:00

"The Sunday of the Hemorrhaging Woman."

It is, of course, the FIRST Sunday in Lent in Byzantine Orthodox circles, "The Sunday of Orthodoxy," commemorating all the Councils considered Ecumenical, but in particular, Nicea II (AD 787), which resulted in the suppression of iconoclasm, at least until a form of it was revived in the West in the 15th Century. Apropos of same, Fr. Stephen has a post here, in which he asks:

". . .by whose prayers are you being spared? I know that my unrighteous soul is sustained by the prayers of others. I simply do not know their names (though I have my suspicions). Should any of us be so arrogant as to assume that God’s mercy is not being extended to us through the prayers of others?

"As we should with our guardian angels, thanksgiving should should be offered for these righteous holy saints."

We, of course, have little control over who is praying for us, but we are indeed called to be grateful for their prayers. In addition, my question is: Who am I praying for? Who are you praying for?

At Qurbana each Sunday here, we name many names, both among the living and the departed, beseeching the Lord to remember them for good. In summing up, we always pray:

"Remember all, both among the living and the departed, who have asked for our prayers; those who love us; those who hate us; all those for whom we should pray, including our families, friends and benefactors; and all who are in need of our prayers."

Interceding for others is an integral part of what we are called to do in pursuing our own sanctification.

Today's readings:

Romans 7:14-25: "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Psalm 30:1-4: "O LORD my God, I cried to thee for help, and thou hast healed me."

Mark 5:25-34: "There was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well." And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd, and said, "Who touched my garments?" ....And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

Here is another episode in Jesus' healing ministry. What stand out here is that Jesus allows his healing power to be accessed indirectly, without a face-to-face meeting. The woman, like so many of us, thinks, "He is so busy. He would not have time for me." But yet, she still has faith that healing is possible, that the Lord will allow this to happen. And so he does. But he does not stop there. He seeks the woman out to reassure her, to make the exchange explicit. He does this because He desires, first and foremost, for an encounter of communion with the woman, as with each of us. He wants to meet me, to meet you, face-t0-face. However, he doesn't require this up front if we are not ready for it. He makes this possible for the woman by healing her, as it were, by stealth, and then seeking communion with her. It does not matter to the Lord which comes first, healing or communion, because he seeks to both heal us and bring us into communion with him; knowing this, however, inspires us to seek to encounter him directly. To Him be glory forever.

First Sunday in Lent

2009-03-02T01:16:00.003-05:00

Well, since today, Monday, is "Clean Monday" in the Byzantine Orthodox Churches, as of today, everybody's in Lent. For the ACCA, Lent began last Monday, and yesterday was the First Sunday in Lent for us, "the Sunday of the Leper".

The Readings:
Romans 6:12-23: "Do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies...The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Psalm 142: 1,2, 6,7: "I cry to the Lord...bring me out of prison that I may give thanks to thy name."

Mark 1:40-45: "A leper came to Jesus beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean."

Lent is the pre-eminent season of repentance, of returning to the Lord. We are called to this, not only by the Church, through the calendar, but by our need. We find ourselves unable, of our own strength, to free ourselves from sin, from the passions which drive us, addict us, sicken us, alienate us from ourselves and our communities. We find ourselves in prisons of our own making. We discover that spritually, we are lepers, suffering with a disease that, unless healed, will completely destroy us. But when we turn, when we re-turn to the Lord, we know that he will, that he will heal us. We fail in fasting. The Lord will heal us. We struggle with prayer, with the giving of ourselves by way of our time, talent, and treasure. He will heal us. But we must come. So let us come, knowing he loves humanity and that with him, not only are all things possible, but that he desires nothing more greatly than to make us whole, if we would but let him. To him be glory forever.

The new Vatican Channel on YouTube

2009-01-24T07:49:00.002-05:00

Check it out.

YouTube: Vatican's Channel

Celebrating Epiphany/Theophany and 25 Years of Marriage

2009-01-09T17:25:00.018-05:00

January 6 is the celebration of Epiphany/Theophany, the end of the 12-day Christmas season. Khouria Susan and I also celebrate the Nativity season as our wedding anniversary: we were married legally before a judge on December 25, 1983 and celebrated a Blessing of Marriage on January 6, 1984 in an Episcopal Church in Racine, Wisconsin. Therefore, on January 6, we not only marked Epiphany/Theophany, but we also celebrated 25 years of marriage. This is entirely appropriate; while this feast primarily commemorates the Baptism of our Lord, it also celebrates the Wedding at Cana.

We began the celebration with a liturgy, the Holy Qurbana (Eucharist), which included the Great Blessing of Waters, and followed this up with a service of blessing for marriage, including an exchange of rings, which our daughters, Larkin and Cary, provided for the occasion. This was followed by a reception.

We were privileged to have with us about twenty guests, including our assistant bishop, Andreas Mar Cassian and his wife, Amma (Mother) Caitlin of Kodak, Tennessee. Mar Cassian presided from the chair at the Liturgy, while Amma Caitlin celebrated the Blessing of the Waters. I was the celebrant of the liturgy and Cary, aka the Pious Reader Francis, served as Reader and Acolyte. Mar Cassian then renewed the blessing upon our marriage. Mar Cassian and I each preached short homilies.

Khouria Susan and I wish to thank all who attended and all who helped to plan and execute this celebration, especially our daughters, Larkin and Cary, their friends, Larkin’s special friend, Richie, and Mar Cassian and Amma Caitlin Turner. We love all of you very much and pray that you will be richly blessed in the coming year.

The following photos were taken by Audrey. Thank you, dear.

Mar Cassian, the Pious Reader Francis, and myself during the Liturgy.

From left to right, Khouria Susan, myself, Amma Caitlin, Pious Reader Cary Francis, and Mar Cassian, as the blessing of marriage begins.

Exchanging rings. Daughter Larkin is behind Khouria Susan.

We are truly blessed.

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

2008-12-25T01:33:00.002-05:00

"May he who, for the sake of our salvation, was born in a cave and lay in a manger, Christ our True God, through the prayers of his most pure Mother; of the holy, glorious, and all-laudable Apostles; of our Holy and God-bearing forebears; of the holy and righteous ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna; and of all the Saints, have mercy on us and save us, for He is good and loveth humanity. Amen." - Blessing at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy for the Nativity of Christ, Byzantine Rite

An Old Post...

2008-12-22T11:42:00.002-05:00

is generating some new conversation. Check it out:

VagantePriest: "What hath Rome to do with Salt Lake City?"

New Blog and Call to Prayer

2008-12-18T12:34:00.003-05:00

(Phiro tip: De Cura Animarum)

I am adding a link to another blog on the right: "In Caritate Non Ficta", written by Philip Gerard Johnson. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Johnson was serving as an officer in the Navy until he was diagnosed with a brain tumor which is apparently inoperable. He has also been discerning a call to the Roman Catholic priesthood, of which he speaks here and he is scheduled for a needle biopsy on January 7, 2009.

Please keep Philip in your prayers and have him remembered at the altar. Visit his blog and leave a comment, letting him know that you are praying for him.

The Shack

2008-12-13T12:25:00.005-05:00

Well, so much for agendas. When Advent began, a couple of weeks ago, I had laid out a plan for Advent blogging, focusing on the readings for the Sundays of the season. Life intervened, and here we are. It is almost the Third Sunday and I have yet to complete the post for the Second Sunday, concerning the “Announcement” to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, or Mother of God, of the impending birth of the Messiah. I had also intended to write posts about St. Nicholas (December 6) and perhaps some other Saints and manifestations of Saints, such as Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose commemorations fall during the Advent season.

There is still hope for accomplishing some of this, but it is fading. In the meantime, a little book has come my way, something between a long short story and a novel, called The Shack, and it seems good to me to comment on it.

In The Shack, a middle-aged man, Mack, directly encounters the Triune God, who shows up in order to heal Mack of “The Great Sadness”, a chronic depression which has enveloped his life since his young daughter, Missy, was abducted and presumed killed while Mack and his children were on a camping trip a couple of years before. During this encounter with the Trinity, he experiences much that is healing, including being shown where his daughter’s body lies, and many of his questions are answered. In returning to his normal life, Mack, by revealing the location of his daughter’s body, is able to help the authorities catch the serial killer responsible for his daughter’s death, and he is also able to bring some measure of healing to his family, especially his older daughter, Kate, who feels responsible for Missy’s disappearance and death.

The author, William Paul Young, aka “Willie”, although somewhat younger than me, has a religious background similar to what I experienced as a young man, and some of the causes of pain in his life are apparently very similar to mine, in terms of both the consequences of his own behavior and the behavior of others; therefore, I strongly resonate with his practical understanding of God as Love, God as a Divine Community who always acts in love, even when that Community is angry at humans for the damage they are doing to themselves, each other, and the planet. And I actually know someone, a woman, who had a similar experience, not with the Triune God per se, but with Christ and His Blessed Mother. The results, for this woman, are also very similar to those in Mack’s life: positive both for herself and for those around her. So, even though this book is presented as fiction, this aspect is quite believable to me. There is also much about the theology which is very, well, Orthodox, concerning the nature of God and the Divine desire to be in relationship – communion – with all humans, for humans to share the Divine Life “face to face” and the role that Jesus, both fully God and fully human, plays in making this possible and actual. Given this, and given that this book can be a word of hope to people who are seriously hurting and may even be a salutary wake up call to people coming out of certain religious backgrounds, I am reluctant to critique in any way, but I feel I must.

The book, of course, is a story of an extraordinary encounter with God; thus, it might not be expected to deal so much with the ordinary means by which we experience the Divine. Unfortunately, however, words several times put into the mouths of the Divine Persons specifically reject the cornerstone of these ordinary means of encountering God: “no ritual”. Thus, for example, while there is an incident in the book in which Mack consumes bread and wine given him by the Divine Persons, it is explicitly stated that he eats and drinks “without ritual”. And, under other circumstances, things are purposely changed up, done differently than before, because there is “no ritual”.

For me, this is extremely problemmatic, and not just on an abstract level. You see, I do encounter the Triune God, the God "of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," every time I celebrate the Eucharist, every time I participate in any way, and I know I am not alone in this. The Eucharist – and the other Christian Mysteries – have been healing forces – healing encounters – with “the Great I Am”, for me not only on a routine, theoretical basis, but especially when I have been at my lowest, when, frankly, suicide has presented itself as a viable option. Yes, I’ve been there: it is not simply that I have a professional interest in defending the Mysteries. If I had not encountered the Love which is God in these Mysteries, I would not have embraced the historic, Apostolic Christian Faith, let alone become a priest.

There IS ritual and, as it turns out, the reasons for this have a great deal to do with the way humans are created. Thus, since we are, after all, made in the image and likeness of God, this must also have something to do with the communal love which is the Divine Nature, the eternal dance of mutual submission – kenosis – which the book rightly highlights. We certainly see ritual in created nature which itself “declares the glory of God”. Consider the repetition: day succeeds day; month follows month; season follows season; year follows year. We could also multiply examples from human interaction: however, the basic point is simply that there is no relationship without ritual, and ritual is a means, an extremely basic means, by which we initiate and reinforce relationships. Therefore, I would invite Willie and all of his readers to begin experiencing relationship with the Divine in those rituals which God has given us precisely for that purpose, especially the ritual of the Eucharist, in the context of a Church, a Christian community, where the Apostolic “Rule of Prayer” has been preserved.

"Yes, but is it bread?"

2008-12-03T13:21:00.004-05:00

A post by Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod writer at Getreligion, discusses an article (with video) in the Boston Globe, featuring The Cavanagh Company, a Rhode Island-based firm that makes unleavened hosts for the Eucharist, as used in Latin Rite Roman Catholic Churches as well as Anglican and Lutheran congregations. Cavanagh, “the Microsoft of altar breads,” apparently has an 80% market share.

First, let me make clear that neither I nor the ACCA are inherently opposed to the use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist. We take the view that bread, any bread, whether leavened or unleavened, is valid matter for the central celebration of the Christian faith, while also noting that for our Armenian brethren, both Oriental Orthodox and Roman Catholic, unleavened bread is normally used to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Pluralism is proper here, at least between Rites, in that the use of leavened bread is rooted in one sort of symbolism, unleavened in another, and both are informed by the Gospel: Christ is free of “the leaven of the Pharisees” while at the same time, He is the new leaven which causes “the whole lump to rise”. I also have to say that I am impressed with the Cavanagh family’s development of technology which allows them to mass produce a product that is edible, reasonably bread-like, and largely crumb-free, which is always a concern with altar bread. It is not easy to make such unleavened bread. Believe me, I’ve tried, and the results have not been edible. Futher, unleavened bread is a great deal easier to work with once it is consecrated, especially when it comes to the reservation of the sacrament.

One bit of irony, however, has to do with the idea that Cavanagh communion bread is “untouched by human hands” prior to its being used to celebrate the Eucharist. Consider the prayer with which the bread is offered, in the contemporary Roman Rite, during the “Preparation of the Gifts”:

“Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer which earth has given and HUMAN HANDS HAVE MADE. It will become for us the bread of life.” (Emphasis added)

The bread and wine are means by which, in the Eucharist, we Christians offer ourselves, our world, and our work to God. This is why, in Eastern Christian circles, it is normal for the Eucharistic bread (leavened in most Eastern Christian traditions) to be made by a priest or by a member of the congregation. I myself make leavened eucharistic bread for use on special occasions. Further, there are still Western Rite convents and monasteries which make unleavened altar breads. For these monks and nuns, this work is both ministry and means of support, and it certainly involves "the work of human hands". Another institution which makes these breads is St. Michael's Bakery, in the Netherlands. Started as a school for the deaf in early 19th Century, it now provides occupational therapy to those in need. St. Michael's altar breads are available in the United States here (from a company which also sells Cavanagh breads).

Another bit of irony in this article has to do with the attitude apparently taken by members of the Cavanagh family to their product: “no reverence”. “Until it’s consecrated by the priest, it’s just bread,” they say. The problem here is that bread, any bread, is potentially the Body of Christ. Therefore, it, and by extension, all food, is to be treated with a certain amount of deference, especially bread which is being made specifically for the Eucharist. Contrast this attitude to that of a Russian immigrant women, once employed in a fine restaurant. She left this job shortly after starting because she was required to dispose of bread left uneaten by the patrons. “I have to throw away the Body of Christ!” All bread is potentially the Body of Christ, all wine His precious blood. This is directly related to the Christian giving of thanks, not just in the Eucharist, but before consuming any food or drink.

First Sunday of Advent and Commemoration of St. Andrew

2008-11-30T09:56:00.007-05:00

One of the ways in which the ACCA manifests the Western Christianity in its DNA is by the fact that it celebrates Advent as a season which is only four weeks long as opposed to the six weeks which are the general norm for the Eastern Christian rites. However, like our more mainstream brothers and sisters of the West Syriac rite in the Indian Orthodox Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Maronite Church, the focus of our Advent observance is upon the “Happy Announcements” which precede the birth in the flesh of our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ. As it happens this year, the First Sunday of Advent and St. Andrew’s day coincide. This is not entirely problematic, given that St. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, is the “first called” of the Apostles (John 1:35-42) and it is he, Andrew, who introduces Peter, who eventually becomes the first, the leader, of the Apostles, to the Lord. We also note that Andrew first encounters Jesus through John the Baptizer, the forerunner, whose mission it was to announce the coming of the “Lamb of God,” the Messiah.

The main focus of today’s Gospel reading (Luke 1:5-25) for this First Sunday of Advent is the announcement made to Zechariah, the Baptizer’s father, that he, Zechariah, an elderly man married to an elderly woman, Elizabeth, was about to become a father for the first time. Now Zechariah was a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem, and it had fallen upon him to enter the Holy Place to offer incense, as was done twice daily. As Zechariah is burning incense before the Lord, an angel, who turns out to be Gabriel, appears to him. Gabriel tells Zechariah, that this child, this firstborn son, is to be called John. Gabriel continues:

“And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth;
for he will be great before the Lord,
and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
even from his mother's womb.
And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli'jah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

Zechariah does not believe the angel and is made unable to speak until the child is born.

But then, of course, John IS born, Zechariah’s power of speech is restored, and he speaks prophetically of the newborn laying before him:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people,
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies,
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers,
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath which he swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
when the day shall dawn upon us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace."

We find these events foretold in one of the Old Testament readings given for this Sunday, Malachi 3:1-4: “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.”

So John comes “in the spirit and power of Elijah” to “prepare the way of the LORD.” Who is “the LORD”? None other than the eternal God, “the Holy One of Israel”. The Messiah is the Eternal God come in flesh and blood. He is “Emmanuel,” “God-with-us”. He is the “Word of the Lord” who comes to Jeremiah and all the prophets, who comes as “the Son of Adam” to the Apostles.

In the other Old Testament reading given for this Sunday, Jeremiah 1:4-9, the LORD calls the prophet Jeremiah, who, like John the Baptizer, is consecrated before his birth to see the living God and to announce what he has seen. Jeremiah, like all prophets, including John and his father, Zechariah, has “the word of God” placed in his mouth. This is reminiscent of our Lord’s words to the Apostles, “Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10:17)

Apostles, who are themselves prophets, are sent to speak in the power of God, to speak as they are given to do so. As St. Paul writes in the reading from Romans (10: 10-18) for St. Andrew, “how beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news” and, from Psalm 19: “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world”. They, too, speak of what they have seen, heard, experienced, their encounter with God, God with a human face. Over these 2,000 years, their message has come down to us in the Church, and we have heard and responded. In responding, we too experience the living God.

Advent, the season of arrival, the time of announcement, is a hinge upon which, in the present, swings past and future. The Lord who comes to us today in Word and Mystery, in proclamation and celebration, is He who has come and is to come. He has come in creation, in the encounter with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; He has come in the giving of the law, in the calling of the prophets. He has come as Jesus the Messiah. The Kingdom is present because the King is present: “change your minds and believe the Good News!” If we do so, then we too will be empowered to speak, to tell what we have seen and heard, to announce what we have experienced; in so doing, we will know that the Spirit of our Father speaks through us.

(Scripture quotations are from the RSV)

Happy Nameday, Andreas Mar Cassian! Many years!

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-27T09:39:00.011-05:00

It is quiet this early Thanksgiving morning here in central South Carolina, the sun rising above the trees outside my east-facing window immediately to my left, and yes, Khouria Susan, it's a little chilly. The turkey is cooking, and Susan is resting. Junior was unable to come home from Chicago and my brother-in-law and his family were also unable to come down from Virginia. However, our older daughter will join us a bit later, so Thanksgiving this year will be small, just the three of us.

As I have done so many times at quiet holiday moments, I am wandering a bit through old memories, memories of Thanksgivings past, celebrations in my native Northeast Montana, in Milwaukee during my largely misspent college career, memories of other times and other places.

One such memory, from the Marquette/Milwaukee years, involves the microwaving of a turkey at a favorite Wells Street watering hole, Jim Hegarty’s Irish Pub. After an hour or two and many beers later, we then took it home, to our dilapidated college student ghetto flat, and put it in the oven for a while. In the end, that was one tough, undercooked bird. A great memory, but a lousy meal. Other memories, from childhood, have to do with inviting neighbors, three retired bachelor farmers (only one of whom was Norwegian), to share our family table. That made six: mom, dad, yours truly, and Ray, John, and Herman. There was snow on the ground and it was more than “a little chilly”, but that was always the case at Thanksgiving, fifteen miles south of the Canadian border, with nothing but a couple of barbed wire fences between us and the North Pole, a mere 2,500 miles away.

Another set of memories, sparked by Deacon Greg Kandra, are not related specifically to the holiday of Thanksgiving. Deacon Greg has posted, here, a clip from “Godspell”, a production made possible by the Jesus Revolution of the early 1970’s, the latter a phenomenon that shaped my life profoundly, as did the related neo-Pentecostalism of Charismatic Renewal. What is fascinating to me is the extent to which these movements continue to impact American Christianity up until this moment, from the upheavals within Anglicanism to the resurgence of Eastern Orthodoxy to the ever-shifting foci within Roman Catholicism to the founding of the Charismatic Episcopal Church and similar Independent Catholic bodies as well as the emergence of Churches such as the ACCA.

One specific memory that I have in this regard concerns a prayer group/Bible study hosted by a Roman Catholic couple in my hometown, Scobey “Lake Wobegone” Montana. They had been introduced to charismatic renewal by way of the Cursillo movement. I was 14 or 15 at the time, and this prayer group included, at various times, Methodists, Lutherans, members of the Assemblies of God and even, from time to time, my own father, an Evangelical Wesleyan, who consistently cast a decidedly jaundiced eye at mainstream denominations, especially the Roman Catholic Church. On this particular evening, I do not recall who was present, except for the host couple; however, at some point, in walked a Roman Catholic priest, a native of the area, and his father. I had never encountered a priest so closely before. He said little but, as I recall, prayed profoundly. Something stirred within me: a calling. I did not know how or where this calling would be played out, but somehow, at a very deep level that was only semi-conscious, I knew. I was called: this Charismatic, Evangelical Jesus Freak nerd, a son of the radical Reformation if there ever was one, was being called to the sacerdotal priesthood.

Years later, my colleague, Andreas Mar Cassian, and I were discussing our respective youths, his in East Tennessee, mine in NE Montana. He was raised Baptist. Avva Andreas asked me, “What did you want to be when you were 14?” “A priest,” I replied. “Me too,” he said.

Of course, it all seems so much more clear-cut in retrospect. However, on that Winter night, in an aging mobile home in NE Montana, a seed was most definitely planted.

And there were other seeds: having a pastor introduce me to Ignatius of Antioch from the pulpit of the Christian and Missionary Alliance congregation which was my primary church home as a child and teenager; attending a Latin wedding Mass; and, at age 7, encountering the witness of a large, devout Roman Catholic family, especially through its sons who were close to me in age and who, even though very young themselves, were willing and quite able to explain to me the basics of the Apostolic Faith in its Roman Catholic iteration, including, as I vividly recall, the three types of baptism: water, desire, and blood. I have long since lost touch with them, Brian, Johnny, and Michael, but I pray for them regularly, and I hope they have perservered in their faith.

For all of this, and for so much more, especially for my family, friends both past and present, and for my Church, I give thanks this day. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and may God remember us all in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Paulos Mar Gregorios

2008-11-26T11:10:00.002-05:00

Monday, November 24, was the 12th anniversary of the repose of Paulos Mar Gregorios, a metropolitan bishop of the Indian Orthodox Church and a world class scholar, ecumenist, and humanitarian. Fr. Theodosius has a tribute here as well as several posts relating to Mar Gregorios, including excerpts from his writings, here.

A Deacon comes to realize his true vocation...

2008-11-10T11:23:00.006-05:00

Writer David Hunter, formerly Deacon Micah in ACCA circles, has requested and received laicization with the Metran's blessing. Hunter says he realized his true vocation lies in writing. He has published several novels, many inspired by his experience as a law enforcement officer, and writes a weekly column for the Knoxville New-Sentinel. In the column linked below, he mentions the recent death of Jimbo, one of the men who was a regular guest at St. Demetrios' soup kitchen:

"Helping the Least of These"

Note: the intial reference to "St. Michael's" should be to "St. Demetrios", as the column itself later makes clear.

Also, after Jimbo's death, friend of the ACCA Chad Huskey realized he had some video footage of Jimbo from St. Demetrios, and he used it to make a tribute, which is embedded below. The initial text in the video is from an E-mail written by the Metran, Victor Mar Michael, and the occasion was when the youth of Chad's Church, Forest Grove Free Will Baptist, prepared and served a meal for the homeless at St. Demetrios:

Memory eternal!

So sad, so very, very sad...

2008-11-09T14:52:00.002-05:00

"Monks brawl at Christian Holy Site in Jerusalem"

This is not the first time something like this has happened, and it probably won't be the last.

"For the peace of the whole world, for the welfare of the holy Churches of God, and for the union of all, let us pray to the Lord."
Kyrie Eleison - Great litany, Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom