Illinois Senate Seat

I have not commented on this crazyness in the Illinois Senate Seat situation in the past but I will now enter the fray.

Yesterday Governor Blagojevich (who is Orthodox by the way) named Roland Burris to the United States Senate to fill the vacant seat of President-Elect Barrack Obama. Now people are going out of their minds about it. Not about the choice, but the fact that Governor, who is accused of trying to sell the seat, made the appointment.

No weather you agree or not, the Illinois Constitution gives the appointment power to the Governor of the State. The State legislature filled a bill to remove that from the Governors powers but failed to act on it so the Governor was left with no choice but to make the appointment. The new Senate will be sworn in on Tuesday and the seat should be filled. The legislature had an opportunity to act and they did not so the Governor acted legally might I add.

So now it goes to the Senate where they can try and block the appointment. I feel sorry for the one who has been appointed. He has entered a political fire storm that he should not have to enter.

As I understand the process this is a two year appointment regardless of what is left in term. The appointee will serve for two years, then there will be an election to fill the balance of the term. In the case of Hillary Clinton in New York, the person would be appointed for two years, then have to run in an election to fill the remaining two years, then would run for the seat for a six year term. Very confusing but that is how it works.

So we shall see where this all goes from here. I am surprised however at the shock people are expressing. After all corruption is not new in Illinois politics.

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Another New Affiliate

This is cross posted from Shepherd of Souls

This is exciting news! We are adding another affiliate station to the Shepherd of Souls family. WNSH 1570 AM from Beverly, Massachusetts will be running the show on Saturday Mornings at 1am.

Welcome to the family!

So here is the list of Affiliates thus far, and we are adding more and more everyday!

WESO 970 AM Radio Southbridge, Sunday 8:30am
WPLM 1390 AM Radio Plymouth/Cape Cod, Sunday 8:30am
WBNW 1120 AM Radio Concord/Boston, Sunday 8:30am
The Mighty 1650 AM McKinney, Texas, Sunday 10:30am
WVOA 98.1FM Syracuse, 101.5 Oneida, Rome, Utica, New York. Tuesday 3:30pm
WNSH 1570 AM Radio Beverly, MA, Saturday 1:00am Sphere: Related Content

December 28th: Jospeh the Betrothed

The holy and righteous Joseph the Betrothed, also referred to as Joseph of Nazareth, was the foster-father of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament (Matthew 1:16; Luke 3:23). Not much is known of Joseph except that he was "of the House of David" and lived in the town of Nazareth. His date of death is unknown, though he was still living when Jesus was 12 years old.

He was betrothed to the Virgin Mary at the time that Mary conceived Jesus. Luke says that he lived at Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 2:4); however, according to Matthew, it was only after the return from Egypt that he settled in Nazareth (Matthew 2:23). He is called a "just man". He was by trade a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that Joseph died before Jesus entered on his public ministry because only Mary was present at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee, and he is not described at the crucifixion along with Mary (John 19:25). In addition, St. Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus, a duty that would have fallen to St. Joseph had he been alive.

Jesus Christ is described as being the brother of James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and several sisters (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55). A tradition at least as early as the second century, still adopted by the Orthodox Church, explains that these "brothers and sisters" were from Joseph's marriage to Salome who left him a widower before he was betrothed to Mary and so making them step-brothers and step-sisters. He was the older brother to Cleopas, who was also married to a woman named Mary.

That Jesus commended Mary to the care of John the Evangelist while he was hanging on the cross has been interpreted to also suggest that Joseph had died by that time, and that Joseph and Mary did not have any other children who might care for Mary.

In many icons of the Nativity, Joseph is shown being tempted by the Devil (depicted as an old man with furled wings) to break off his betrothal, and resisting that temptation (cf. Nativity Icon).

Also in the imagery of the Christian church, statues of Joseph depict his staff topped with flowers, recalling the Protevangelion's account of how Mary's spouse was chosen. Among the collected walking sticks of widowers in Israel, Joseph was distinguished when his staff burst into flower.

St Joseph is commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity. If there is no Sunday between December 25 and January 1, his feast is moved to December 26, along with David the King and James the Brother of our Lord. The Righteous Joseph is also commemorated on the Sunday of the Forefathers. There is an akathist hymn dedicated to him.

From Orthodoxwiki

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Christmas Eve Homily

My homily for Christmas Eve is now online.

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Ben Stein on Christmas

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a Nativity Scene, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians.

I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events.. terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school The Bible says "Thou Shalt not Kill, thou Shalt not Steal", and "Love your Neighbor as Yourself." And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards,
Honestly and respectfully.
Ben Stein

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More Ridiculous Photos

In case you missed this the last time here is another stupid photo. I am sure this is what Jesus had in mind for his church. I will say again that I like vestments and I think one should look the part during Liturgy but this is just stupid!

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Christmas Sermon of St. John Chrysostom

I behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn.

The Angels sing!
The Archangels blend their voices in harmony!
The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise!
The Seraphim exalt His glory!

All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side the Sun of Justice.

And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, he had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things move in obedience to God.

This day He Who Is, is Born; and He Who Is becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became he God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassibility, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Yet He has not forsaken His angels, nor left them deprived of His care, nor because of His Incarnation has he departed from the Godhead.

And behold,Kings have come, that they might adore the heavenly King of glory;
Soldiers, that they might serve the Leader of the Hosts of Heaven;
Women, that they might adore Him Who was born of a woman so that He might change the pains of child-birth into joy;
Virgins, to the Son of the Virgin, beholding with joy, that He Who is the Giver of milk, Who has decreed that the fountains of the breast pour forth in ready streams, receives from a Virgin Mother the food of infancy;
Infants, that they may adore Him Who became a little child, so that out of the mouth of infants and sucklings, He might perfect praise;
Children, to the Child Who raised up martyrs through the rage of Herod;
Men, to Him Who became man, that He might heal the miseries of His servants;
Shepherds, to the Good Shepherd Who has laid down His life for His sheep;
Priests, to Him Who has become a High Priest according to the order of Melchisedech;
Servants, to Him Who took upon Himself the form of a servant that He might bless our servitude with the reward of freedom;
Fishermen, to Him Who from amongst fishermen chose catchers of men;
Publicans, to Him Who from amongst them named a chosen Evangelist;
Sinful women, to Him Who exposed His feet to the tears of the repentant;
And that I may embrace them all together, all sinners have come, that they may look upon the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the world.

Since therefore all rejoice, I too desire to rejoice. I too wish to share the choral dance, to celebrate the festival. But I take my part, not plucking the harp, not shaking the Thyrsian staff, not with the music of pipes, nor holding a torch, but holding in my arms the cradle of Christ. For this is all my hope, this my life, this my salvation, this my pipe, my harp. And bearing it I come, and having from its power received the gift of speech, I too, with the angels, sing: Glory to God in the Highest;and with the shepherds: and on earth peace to men of good will.

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12 Days of Christmas

Got this in an email and thought it was good! Thanks to Fr. Ken

From 1558 until 1829, Protestants in England prohibited Catholic Christians from practicing their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this Carol as a Catechism song for young Catholic Christians.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of the Church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The Partridge in a Pear Tree is Jesus Christ

-Two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stand for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stand for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represent the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit - Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking are the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping are the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stand for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Nicene Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now you know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'

Cherish, keep and defend the Faith once delivered...

Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone and May the rich blessings of God be upon you and your loved one's

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Great Op-Ed

WHEN THE Christian holiday dominates the culture, sometimes oppressively, a newspaper column may not seem the most appropriate venue for personal reflections on the meaning of Jesus. Yet even as Western Civilization has been nourished by religious and philosophical traditions that have nothing to do with Jesus, it has also been profoundly influenced by the memory of this man. It can be more than merely sectarian to ask, Who was he?

The stories told about the nativity - Caesar's census order, Bethlehem, Herod's threat, three kings, star, no-room-at-the-inn, manger, angels, slaughter, flight - do not aim to be historical, yet in its deeper meaning, the beloved Christmas narrative gives us a portrait of a person that squares with the most important features of the actual Jesus. He was a counter-force to the Roman emperor. He was of the poor and powerless. He conveyed his message by indirection - more by poetry than doctrine. At heart, his story is tragic. Yet it is a source of hope and joy, which is why his friends clung to his memory. The problem he addressed was violence.

Violence was overwhelmingly the normal condition of the world into which Jesus was born. Jerusalem and its environs had long been what the scholar John Dominic Crossan calls the "cockpit of empire," a crossroads region that had been the scene of brutal imperial conflicts going back 1,000 years. The Jewish people had mostly lived as vassals of one foreign sovereign or another, with oppressive violence a steady note of the Hebrew situation. Survival of Jewish nationhood in this milieu was a marvel, and key to that survival was a conscientious wrestling with the problem of violence, the record of which is the Bible.

Rome, when it came, was the most brutal imperial force of all, and its violence peaked several times during the century of Jesus and his movement, beginning with the savaging of the region around Nazareth not long before Jesus was born, and ending with the final destruction of Jerusalem as the story of Jesus was assuming the form we know.

But Jesus was not a mere victim of this violence. Acting in his Jewish tradition, he confronted it, rejected it, and proposed a new way to think of it. His followers knew at the outset, and ever after, that they failed to live up to the standard he set, but that very knowledge shows that the myth of what Crossan calls the normalcy of violence is broken.

Humans have an inbuilt tendency to find the solution of violence in yet more violence, with the result that it spirals on forever. The victory of coercive force is inevitably the cause of the next outbreak of coercive force. Jesus proposed that the answer to violence is not more violence, but is forgiveness and righteousness - or, as we would put it, peace and justice. For 2,000 years, this program has been able to be dismissed as piety's dream. But something new is afoot. Since 1945, the normalcy of violence is armed with weapons that will surely render the human species extinct unless a different way of thinking of violence is found.

That is the promise of Christmas.

A different way of thinking of violence has already lodged itself in human consciousness. This is not just a Christian phenomenon. The great religions of the world - Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism - and the no-religion of rationalism have all countered the normalcy of violence with assertions of compassion and loving kindness. In the history of Western Civilization, no figure has represented that ideal more resolutely than Jesus. His story offers a masterpiece expression of the possibility of forgiveness and righteousness not only as a saving program, but as the basis of an intensely personal relationship.

Because Jesus is understood by those who believe in him as offering not only a sign of what is needed, but a way to achieve it - "I am the way," he said - he has survived even for those who regard him in purely worldly terms as an image of a hope that cannot be fully articulated, and that can never be exclusively claimed by any group, including Christians. In that sense, the observances of this week can belong to everyone who chooses to enjoy them.

Peace.
James Carroll's column appears regularly in the Globe

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Merry Christmas

*Twas the month before Christmas*
*When all through our land,*
*Not a Christian was praying*
*Nor taking a stand.*
*See the PC Police had taken away,*
*The reason for Christmas - no one could say.*
*The children were told by their schools not to sing,*
*About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.*
*It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say*
* December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.*
*Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit*
*Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!*
*CDs fro m Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod*
*Something was changing, something quite odd! *
*Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa*
*In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.*
*As Targets were hanging their trees upside down*
*At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.*
*At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears*
*You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.*
*Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty*
*Are words that were used to intimidate me..*
*Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen*
*On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !*
*At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter*
*To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter. *
*And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith*
* Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace*
*The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded*
*The reason for the season, stopped before it started.*
*So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'*
*Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.*
*Choose your words carefully, choose what you say*
*Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS , not Happy Holiday !*


Please, all Christians join together and
wish everyone you meet a MERRY CHRISTMAS
Christ is !The Reason for the Christ-mas Season!

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Pastor Rick Warren at the Inauguration

Much has been written and spoken about the last few days over President-elect Barack Obama’s decision to ask Pastor Rick Warren to say a prayer at the Inauguration on January 20th. And just as much has been written and spoken about Pastor Rick Warren’s decision to accept. I cannot recall a time when both the left and the right have gone crazy over the same issue.

Pastor Rick Warren made a name for himself on the national stage when during the election campaign he asked both candidates to come to his church and have a conversation with him about how they would handle situations. He asked each of them the same questions and they were given the same amount of time to respond. I actually thought this was a good idea. Just because we are religious does not mean we cannot involve ourselves in the public arena. On the contrary, I believe as Christians we need to be involved in the public square and our voice needs to be heard loud and clear. Kudos Pastor Warren for having the guts to put yourself forward on this.

The left is not a big fan of Pastor Warren due to his stance on gay rights, same-sex marriage and evolution just to name a few. The right has gone off the wall because they cannot understand how this preacher could accept an invitation from someone that the religious right finds so objectionable because of his stance on many of the same issues. This choice has caused leaders in the gay community and other liberal groups to speak about the choice. They said that choosing such an outspoken person on issues like gay marriage was tantamount to endorsing bigotry.

For his part, the President-elect has defended his decision because he has chosen another minister, Joseph Lowery, a Methodist minister to deliver the benediction. Pastor Lowery is a supporter of all of the above. “During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented,” Obama said. “And that’s how it should be, because that’s what America’s about. That’s part of the magic of this country… We are diverse and noisy and opinionated.”

This past weekend Pastor Warren spoke out on the subject of being invited to pray at the Inauguration. “Three years ago I took enormous heat for inviting Barack Obama to my church because some of his views don’t agree with mine, now he’s inviting me.” Pastor Warren also said that he prays for the same things that Obama prays for, integrity, humility and generosity.

So I guess the question is what would I do if I was asked to pray at the Inauguration? Well I would start by saying that he has been elected president and we need to support him. We do not always have to agree but we need to support him. I have not always agreed with President Bush but each Sunday I pray for him during the Liturgy and I pray for him each and everyday. I would also say that I would not pass on the opportunity to pray with such a large group of people and we should never pass on an opportunity to pray. Why would anyone say no?

As an Orthodox Christian and a pastor of a church I am called upon to pray at all sorts of gatherings. Some of them are religious and some are secular. I always accept the opportunity to pray as it brings me closer to a group that I would not otherwise come in contact with. I am also asked by all sorts of people, religious and not so religious, to pray for them and I do so. We have a duty to pray for those who ask us to and I believe we have a duty to pray for those who govern us.

Near the end of the Orthodox Liturgy there is a little phrase the priest says quietly. The phrase is part of a larger prayer but says something like, “for our civil authorities so that we in their calmness may lead religious and reverent lives.” There it is religious and reverent lives. How bad is that?

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Archbishop Nicolae's Christmas Message

Below are links to the Christmas Message of His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas.

Christmas 2008

Craciun 2008

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Patriarchal Encyclical for the Nativity of Our Lord

Istanbul, Turkey
12/18/2008

BARTHOLOMEW
By the Mercy of GodArchbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Plenitude of the Church

Grace, peace and mercy from the Savior Christ, born in Bethlehem

Beloved brethren and children in the Lord,

The great and sacred day of Christmas has dawned, the metropolis and mother of all feasts, inviting each of us to spiritual uplifting and encounter with the Ancient of Days, who became an infant for us.

As St. John of Damascus underlines: "By the grace of God the Father, the only begotten Son and divine Word of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the pre-eternal and perfect God, who is without beginning, condescends to us as His servants, becoming fully human and achieves that which is newer than new, the only new thing under the sun." (On the Orthodox Faith) This incarnation of the Son of God is not merely symbolical, like the other incarnations of the numerous gods in mythology; it is reality, a truly new reality, the only new thing under the sun, which occurred at a specific historical moment in the reign of the Emperor Octavian Augustus some 746 years (according to new astronomical data) since the establishment of Rome, in the midst of a specific people, from the house and line of David (Luke 2.4), in a specific place, namely Bethlehem of Judaea, with a very specific purpose: "He became human in order that we might become divine," in accordance with the succinct expression of Athanasius the Great. (On the Divine Incarnation 54)

The event of incarnation of God's Word grants us the opportunity to reach the extreme limits of our nature, which are identified neither with the "good and beautiful" of the ancient Greeks and the "justice" of the philosophers, nor with the tranquility of Buddhist "nirvana" and the transcendental "fate" or so-called "karma" by means of the reputedly continuous changes in the form of life, nor again with any "harmony" of supposedly contradictory elements of some imaginary "living force" and anything else like these. Rather, it is the ontological transcendence of corruption and death through Christ, our integration into His divine life and glory, and our union by grace through Him with the Father in the Holy Spirit. These are our ultimate limits: personal union with the Trinitarian God! And Christ's nativity does not promise any vague blessedness or abstract eternity; it places "in our hands" the potential of personal participation in God's sacred life and love in an endless progression. It grants us the possibility not only "of receiving adoption" (Gal. 4.5) but also of becoming "partakers of divine nature." (2 Peter 1.4).

Of course, amid the global confusion and crisis of our time, these truths have a strange echo. Most people's hope, resting on worldly "deities," is falsified on a daily basis in the most terrible ways. The human person is humiliated and crushed by numbers, machines, computers, stock markets, and diverse flags of vain ideological opportunism. Nature is blasphemed; the environment groans; young people despair and protest against the injustice of the present and the uncertainty of the future. "Darkness, clouds, storms and noise" (Deut. 4.11) prevail in our world, giving the impression that even the light of hope that dawns in Bethlehem is threatened with extinction and the angelic hymn of universal joy -- "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to all people" (Luke 2.14) -- is in danger of being overcome. Nevertheless, the Church calls everyone to sober attention, re-evaluation of priorities in life, and pursuit of divine traces and value in every other person of respect toward the image of God. Indeed, the Church will not cease to proclaim -- with all the strength acquired by its two millennia of experience -- that the child that lies in the manger of Bethlehem is "the hope of all ends of the earth," the Word and purpose of life, redemption sent by God to His people, namely to the whole world.

We share this good news with much love from the martyric Throne of the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople, proclaiming it to all children of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and to every person that thirsts for Christ, invoking upon all of you the mercy, peace and grace of God, together with the saving gift of the only-begotten Son of God, who came down from the heavens -- for us and for our salvation -- and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, becoming human. To Him belong the glory, power, honor and worship, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, to the ages.

At the Phanar, Christmas 2008
Fervent supplicant to God for all

+ BARTHOLOMEWArchbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch

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Maggie Downham Accepted as a Mid-Term Missionary Candidate to Albania

St. Augustine, FL—The Orthodox Christian Mission Center announces the acceptance of Maggie Downham, from All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Bloomington, Indiana, as a mid-term Missionary Candidate to Albania. Ms. Downham will be teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at the Protagonist Elementary School in Tirana, Albania, during the spring semester. The school is especially grateful for her willingness to serve, because the shortage of ESL teachers for the spring semester would have reduced the school's ministry if someone had not been available. In additin to teaching full time, she will also have the opportunity to participate in an afterschool catechism class which will be offered each week, and to assist the missionary team in other ministries.

Ms. Downham has a deep and life-long desire to immerse herself in different cultures for the sake of the Gospel. This desire has led her to participate on several short-term mission trips. On these trips she felt a calling to seek a life of grateful service and love in action for others. Upon returning from Albania, she hopes to further her education in graduate studies at St. Vladimir's Seminary.

In order to be in Albania by the start of the spring semester (February 5) Maggie needs to raise $6,500. This money will be used for her airfare, a small stipend, insurance and other costs. You may make a donation and participate in this vital ministry at www.ocmc.org or by sending a check payable to OCMC with “Missionary Downham” written in the memo line. Maggie will also appreciate your daily prayer support as well. To find out more about answering the call for missionary service, contact the Missionary Department of your Mission Center at: missionaries@ocmc.org.

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News from the IOCC

Zimbabwe Appeal: Help IOCC & Philoptochos Speed Relief to Victims of Public Health Crisis

Baltimore, MD — International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is responding to the rapidly deteriorating public health crisis in Zimbabwe which threatens to become a catastrophe unless urgently needed medicines and supplies are rushed to the growing numbers of victims. Over 16,000 people have already been stricken and over 1,000 have died since last August. Health experts are warning that half of the country’s population of 12 million is at risk.

IOCC is sending eight complete medical kits, valued at over $380,000 and approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), for the treatment of approximately 5,600 patients. While the bulk of these supplies will be targeted to the outlying areas where the need is greatest, IOCC will also supply its partner in Harare that can treat victims in the capital.

IOCC’s shipment is made possible through a partnership with the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, Medical Teams International (MTI), Dorcas Aid International and IMRES.

Zimbabwe’s complete breakdown in water and sanitation systems has exacerbated this public health crisis. The country’s spiraling economic crisis has also contributed to the emergency situation. With salaries rendered useless by the nation’s hyperinflation, doctors and nurses have stopped going to work in Harare’s two leading hospitals. A medical professional is quoted as saying, “We are in Zimbabwe’s darkest hour and our need is now!”

IOCC has provided more than $5.5 million in medicines and medical supplies to Zimbabwe’s beleaguered hospitals and clinics since 2006 and is working in cooperation with the Orthodox Church in Zimbabwe and other local partners.

Help us speed relief to families in Zimbabwe suffering from disease and hunger. Visit http://m1e.net/c?82842541-Ahn8j6JPDxPEk%403848819-U8Gh5y42a48VM, call IOCC toll free at 1-877-803-4622, or mail a check or money order payable to “IOCC” and write “Zimbabwe Appeal” in the memo line to: IOCC, P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, Md. 21263-0225.

IOCC, founded in 1992 as the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), has implemented over $275 million in relief and development programs in 33 countries around the world

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Let it Snow

UPDATE 12:20pm - We have decided to postpone our Family Christmas Celebration until next Sunday, December 28th.

I have just come in from being outside removing a little gift that was left on my doorstep this morning. SNOW! I have to admit I love the snow, I do not like to shovel it or drive in it but I love to watch it fall and see it on the ground. So we got about a foot here in the Village and everything looks so nice.

Now for the other shoe... We are expecting another 4-8 inches of the white stuff between now and Monday morning. The stuff that fall last night was very light and fluffy and easy to move however, the stuff that will fall tomorrow will be a little heavy and not so easy to move. Thankfully we have a snow blower here at the church so it makes the job easy.

So the big question of the day is what do we do about the church family Christmas party scheduled for tomorrow? I guess we wait and see what happens. Stay tuned to these pages and the parish website at http://www.stmichaelorth.org/ for information regarding cancellations.

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Congress has grown more religiously diverse

Protestants still constitute a majority of the Congress of the United States, but in terms of religious beliefs, the House and Senate, just like the constituencies they represent, are more diverse than they were nearly a half-century ago, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The Pew study, called "Faith on the Hill" among members of the incoming 111th Congress, found that Catholics, Jews, and Mormons are among religious groups better represented in Congress than in the nation as a whole. The most glaring difference between the makeup of the new Congress, which will be sworn in Jan. 6, and the population is among those who are not affiliated with any religious tradition.

Read the entire story here

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Who is raising our Children?

So here we are on the cusp of the Christmas holiday, snow is falling outside my window right now and it is really putting me in the mood. So I was reading the news feeds to see what is going on in the world and I come across this headline, “Boy, 13, accused in killing and burning of half brother, 16” Now I stress the fact that the boy is only accused in this case and has not been convicted yet. But I have to ask the question, who is raising our children?

Last night during an adult religious education program that I run here at the church, we were discussing evangelism and what the church can do for people. One of the topics discussed was children and the how we keep children in the church and the influence on them that the church might have. Now I am not naive enough to say that if children stay in the church all will be well but I submit that maybe, just maybe if kids stay in church we would not have headlines like this one.

This incident took place as part of a robbery of $10,000 in alleged drug money. The body of the 16 year old was found in the woods shot, stabbed and burned and the 13 year old brother is accused of supplying a weapon to an adult who allegedly committed the murder. The dead brother was described as a “significant drug dealer” who was robbed of the $10,000 in cash. The money was later used by one of the adults accused in the case to buy a BMW the next day.

Okay so now comes the question time. Question 1, where did a 13 year old get a weapon? How was this child able to buy, or some how come into the possession of the hand gun? Question 2, where does a 16 year old get $10,000 in cash? Part 2 of that question would be why was he walking around with all of that cash? Question 3, and this is the big one, where were the parents? What is going on in this family, or these families, that these kids have the ability to do all of this stuff unnoticed by an adult? The boy was killed in the home of one of the accused and rolled up in a carpet and dumped in the woods behind the house. Did the parents not notice the missing carpet?

We seem to be loosing control of this generation! I know that some who read this will write that I should not blame the parents of these kids, after all they work hard and there are a lot of things that need to be kept track of. Well you over looked something parents, you over looked your children. I do not have children and I will be the first to admit that being a parent today is one of the hardest jobs out there, but you have a responsibility to raise and supervise your children and if you cannot do the job then do not have children. If you cannot do the job and need help, ask for it help exists and all you need to do is to ask for it.

Be involved in your children’s lives, know who their friends are, monitor their activity on the internet and above all talk to them! This generation is known as the wired generation and they have all the gadgets and gizmos out there. Ask yourself this question, where is the computer in the house? Is it in a place that can be monitored, do you check the sites that your children are visiting, do you even know how to do that?

All I ask is that you participate in the raising of your children because if you don’t them someone else will and you might not have a choice of who that person is.

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Good People

Sometimes I feel that people just don't care anymore. I mean we read all the time about the selfish things that people do. Well my opinion of humanity has changed...

As you may know this area of the world was hit pretty hard a week ago with an ice storm. We still have some 27,000 people that do not have electricity or heat and there is another storm on the way for Friday and another one on Sunday. Such is life in New England.

Well last night I was surfing around Craig's list, I like to look, actually I am looking for a used laptop computer for all the media stuff I am doing. Well I was surfing through the free section and I came across an ad for a family that has opened their house to anyone who needs a place to shower or a hot meal. A place to check email or charge their cell phone. It brought a tear to my eye and I am getting emotional just typing this right now. These people are angels for sure. I do not know who they are but I sent them a little email thank you.

Here is a link to the ad. Maybe you want to drop them a line and say thank you. That's all you need to do is say thank you and maybe say a little prayer for these folks. I know I will.

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What does this have to do with salvation

I like vestments and think that the priest should look nice when celebrating the services, but this is ridiculous. What does this have to do with the mission of Jesus Christ?

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Loss of Life

For those of you reading who live in the Village with me you know by now that we had a suicide on Monday. A poor distraught man took his own life in the parking lot of the local grocery store. What a horrible thing this will be for his family. Pray for this man and for his family.

It does however bring to mind that during this time of year people face all kinds of troubles and with the economy the way it is it makes it worse. Monique over on the Getting Involved Blog has put together a list of resources in the area for folks that are having a hard time. Also as of this writing there are still about 27,000 people in the area without power since last Thursday and they are being told it could be the weekend before the power is restored. I also heard last night that some folks may be without power until after the first of the year!

On my weekly radio show Father Peter Live, I was going to talk about a different subject this week but with this situation of the man taking his life, I think I am going to talk about this. If you cannot get the station I will post the audio after the show.

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Top Religion Stories

Over on a blog called the LEAD is a posting about the top religion stories of 2008. Very interesting picks from the Religion Writers Association. Check it out.

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What to get the Priest for Christmas

Okay I get asked this question this time of year and my first response is nothing. I had the same problem when I was teaching school. Parents would have their kids ask me what I wanted for Christmas.

Well Fr. Darren over at the Servant and Steward blog has some practical suggestions.

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Church Merger

I have written before on these pages about the Church situation here in the Village. The bottom line is we have three Orthodox Churches in a town that can barely support one. So we have begun, once again, talks on merging the three churches. So my question is how do you merge a Greek, Albanian, Romanian Church into something that can work? Okay I know we pray and rely on God and those are great suggestions but I need some practical advice on how to lead, or dare I say shepherd, this little exercise!

The three churches have existed for about 100 years. Not all of them of course we are the youngest of the three. And we all have property, ethnic identity, traditions, oh and least I forget lamb recipes for our picnics. We all celebrate liturgy a little different and we all have songs that we like to sing. We share the Orthodox faith, but the three churches are very different. This is sort of like the Brady Bunch or Yours Mine and Ours!

Last night we had a Parish Council meeting and we were discussing the plan. As it is laid out right now two of the three churches will have a joint parish council meeting in February to discuss weather or not we wish to merge into one parish. Then we will appoint a commission of say three or four people from each church to answer questions such as property, diocese, clergy, and oh yes the lamb recipe. We are setting a three to five year plan for all of this so nothing will happen tomorrow and we all need to be patient. Or as patient as we can be under these circumstances.

On Sunday I passed out a survey and asked questions about the good points and the not so good points, I am avoiding using the term bad, of this merger plan and most were very positive and all had to do with unity and the survival of the Orthodox Faith in the Village. If we stay the way we are we will cease to exist in less than five years. For example the average age in my parish is 62 and not getting any younger. So here we are trying to make something happen. With much prayer we will seek God blessing in all of this.

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Shepherd of Souls 39

A new episode is posted. In this episode I continue my discussion on the role of The Virgin Mary in Orthodox Theology.

I appreciate the feedback but if you would please leave the feedback on the show website at www.shepherdofsouls.com that would be great. Thanks!

Episode 39

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Great Local Blogs

I have recently come across two great local blogs. If you live in the Central Massachusetts area or if you like local politics and issues check out these two blogs.

Speak Out Southbridge

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Amy Grant & Vince Gill

Last night I attended my second concert. Second concert of my entire life by the way. The first one was Randy Travis about a million years ago.

Last night was Vince Gill & Amy Grant with a concert of Christmas music. What a fantastic evening it was and really put me in the Christmas spirit. There was some question as to weather the concert would happen or not because of the ice storm we had overnight but all was well. The place was not filled and I am wondering if they just did not sell the tickets or if people just stayed home for fear of ice and the cold.

Anyway thanks to WESO for the tickets it was a great night.

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Yesterday

Just a couple of photos from around the area yesterday from the pages of the Worcester Telegram.

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Fr. Peter Live ~ Episode 2

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Catch Up

It is hard to believe that it is Thursday already where has the week gone? Right now I am preparing for my Live Radio Program Father Peter Live that will air today at 12 noon on the local radio station WESO 970am. This will be my second show and I have two guests coming in for this week. I am surprised at how much work there is just to produce a one hour program. Now I know why most of these show have a producer but we have a very small budget, actually no budget, so I do it all myself.

After the live program I will return here to the rectory and record my show Shepherd of Souls. This week I have an interview with Fr. Nicholas Apostola on the Orthodox View of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I will not give anymore details so you will have to listen.

This week has been a busy one and I am fighting a cold again so prayers would be appreciated.

Last Saturday night I met a group of 20 somethings at a local watering hole for another round of Theology on Tap. This was a great night of meeting with a different age group in their own surroundings. We need to do more of this and take the Gospel to where they are and meet them where they are. We had a great discussion and after I process more of my thoughts I will write something more about it.

Sunday was the celebration of the Feast of St. Nicholas at our Sister parish here in Southbridge. I have written about the situation here in Southbridge before. We are a town of about 12,000 people and have three Orthodox Churches in this little town. Well we hope to rectify this starting very soon. We have agreed to meet to begin a discussion about merging two of the three parishes. please pray for us as we continue this very important work.

Tonight I continue my adult religious education program on the theme of Orthodox Spirituality. If you are a listener to Shepherd of Souls in iTunes you got the extra episode this week with my lecture. I plan to do the same this week so stay tuned. If you do not subscribe please take a moment to go on over to iTunes and search for the show.

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Parton Saints of 2009

Well it is that time of year when The Pious Sodality of Church Ladies chooses your patron saint for the year 2009. Mine is listed below. If you wish to have your own patron for the year go on over to the site and leave a comment. Remember to check back to get your saint.

St Philip the Deacon
Commemorated on October 11th

Pray for deacons

The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. [Acts 6, 5]

Apolytikion in the Third Tone
O Holy Apostle Philip, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Since thou wast enlightened by the Holy Spirit, thou enlightenest the earth and all its fullness with the beams of thy wise teachings and miracles, Apostle Philip, thou sacred initiate.

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Memory Eternal

His Holiness Patriarch Alexiy II, a conservative who led a revival of Russia's Orthodox Church and opposed Catholic missionary activities in Russia and Ukraine, died on Friday, a church spokesman said. He was 79.

A spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church said Alexiy, who headed the powerful church for 18 years, died at his residence in Peredelkino outside Moscow.

The Church never commented on Alexiy's health and did not immediately disclose a cause of death. But diplomats in Moscow had said he was suffering from cancer.

In a sign of his importance, Russian state television immediately ran a film showing highlights from Alexiy's life, accompanied by the sound of tolling church bells.

"This is an irreplaceable loss for all Russian Orthodox people, wherever they live," said Sergei Mironov, speaker of the upper house of parliament.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia since 1990, the Estonian-born Alexiy was a powerful and influential figure with close links to the Kremlin.

He oversaw a major religious revival in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, with hundreds of new churches built across the country, monasteries reopened and seminaries filling with new priests.

Russia's Orthodox Church is by far the biggest of the churches in the Eastern Orthodox communion and is the majority religion in Russia.

During his 2000-2008 presidency, Vladimir Putin, a former KGB spy under communism, was often seen with Alexiy attending major religious ceremonies and President Dmitry Medvedev has continued the tradition.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said he was "so shocked that it is very hard for me to find words on the spot", Interfax news agency reported. "I respected him deeply".

Medvedev, who was on an official visit to India, was expected to make a statement shortly.

Deeply conservative

An unapolegetic conservative, Alexiy was outspoken in his defence of traditional Russian values and was critical of the Catholic church for what he said was its efforts to win converts among Russian Orthodox believers.

He stood in the way of a visit to Russia by the Polish-born leader of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II.

Both churches said they were open in principle to an historic meeting between the Russian Patriarch and Pope Benedict, who was elected in 2005. But despite several rounds of dialogue between bishops from both churches, Alexiy felt the obstacles were too great.

"Problems remain on the agenda for our bilateral relations with the Roman Catholic Church which demand real solutions," Alexiy said in a speech in June to the Council of Bishops.

"Among them is the question of missionary activity of Catholics in traditionally Orthodox Russian lands".

In a first reaction from the Catholic Church to Alexiy's death, Bishop Brian Farrel, secretary of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, said:

"Patriarch Alexiy had to lead the Church in a period of great transformation. He knew how to carry out this task with a great sense of responsibility and love for Russian tradition."

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Father Peter Live

Well gang the first show is complete and I can tell you I am glad it is over. Talk about stress! Any of you who have done live radio before will know what I mean. Not only was I the host but I was the engineer as well running the board and all of the commercials. But I had a blast! Thanks to all who called.

We could not get the live stream to work but we are going to try again maybe next week so stay tuned for that. If you are interested, I recorded this weeks show and I will put a link at the end of this post. The show is an hour long so plan for it. Thanks for listening.

Episode 1

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Advent Rant

In the most recent episode of Facing East Podcast I did my annual advent rant about how we tend to rush the season. The one of my loyal listeners and parishioners Laura laid into me on her blog about what I had to say. So I thought I would clarify my position here lest there be any confusion about my feelings about the whole situation.

First off I am not against Christmas decorations I am against rushing the season! For those in the western world the season of advent runs from the Sunday after Thanksgiving until the 24th of December. Then the Christmas season begins and runs until the 6th of January. Okay with that said it is fine if you wish to decorate and put all your Christmas decorations out just don't forget what the advent season is all about. It is about preparing.

In the Orthodox Church this is called Christmas Lent and is a time set aside, just like Great Lent before Easter, as a penitential season. Notice the vestment color changes to red, and in the western church the priest wears purple. This is a time for remembering and preparing for the birth of the Christ Child. Yes in our modern western consumer driven world we need to start celebrating the season right after Halloween so we can buy all the junk that three months after Christmas we have broken, forgotten about, or thrown away, or my favorite re-gifted!

So That's all I was saying. Don't loose advent in the rush of Christmas! Don't forget the preparation before the feast. Slow down and just be for a time and think about what is to come. Not the parties and all of the other holiday hoopla just meditate on what the season in all about. JESUS!

Now before you start with the hateful comments and misunderstanding me, some of this is tongue and cheek so take a step back and relax!

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I Have a Dream

So I have been thinking of this for quite some time. I believe that we need to spread the word of Orthodoxy any way that we can. I believe that the folks at Ancient Faith Radio and the Orthodox Christian Network are doing great work with the internet. I think the time has come for the Orthodox world to move into traditional radio and maybe even to satellite radio. I have a dream for a small start with a small radio station that would run good orthodox and other Christian radio programs and maybe some other stuff to pay the bills. I believe that this can be done rather inexpensively and with volunteer help. Hey the Evangelicals are doing it why can't we.

Let's pray about this and see what comes of it. I am on to a few possibilities.

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The Greatest of These is Love

In the past I have written about the subjects of faith and of hope now we turn to the Theological Virtue of Love. Love is one the hardest and most misunderstood words in the English language. Love is a word that is the prime example of how deficient the English Language really is. In English we have one word for all the forms of love and in Greek for example there are many. How can we use the same word for how we feel about ice cream and about our spouse or our children? But we love lice cream and we love our children, there it is.

Our entire existence on this world from a Christian perspective is to commune with God and this communion is possible through love. If love does not exist then God does not exist and there can be no spiritual life. Where love resides there God is and all righteousness. The love of human beings has it’s origin in God. We are to love one another and we are to love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul. Why is this true? Because God first loved us. “For God so loved the world that he sent His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16)

The 4th Century spiritual father Macarius of Egypt tells his spiritual children that the aim of life as the “acquisition of the Holy Spirit” is expressed most perfectly in Love. The Holy Spirit himself is identified with God’s love by the saints. St. Simeon the New Theologian writes, “O Holy Love, - i.e., the Holy Spirit of God – he who knows you not has never tasted the sweetness of your mercies which only living experience can give us. But he who has known you, or who has been known by you, can never have even the smallest doubt. So God who is love enters into the union with humanity through the Son of His love by the Spirit."

Let us look at three types of love in Scripture. Agape is love as the action of perfect goodness for the sake of the other. This is the most basic of all the meanings of love, to do everything that we possible can for the sake and well-being of the other. This is the type of love that God has when we say that God is love. This is the love that we as spiritual beings must have first and foremost.

Eros is love for the sake of union with the other. Erotic love, not sinful erotic love, but love free from the sinful passions. The pure desire for communication with the other, including of course God. This is the love that should exist between God and his creation as the pattern for the erotic love in the world between husband and wife.

Friendship or phila is the love that should exist between God and humanity. We have no greater friend that God and God’s wishes to be the friend of all of humanity. The very purpose of coming to know Christ was to destroy the “enmity” between humanity and God and to restore the co-working relationship that existed in the Garden. “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (Exodus 33:11) "Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends; for all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you." (John 15:13-15)

So we have seen love as goodness, love as union and love as friendship. These are all to be found in relationship between God and humanity and the relationship between human beings. We need the spiritual life in order for there to exist these forms of true love. Because these forms of love all exist in the spiritual life and the spiritual life is a life rooted in God.

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Bartholomew: search for unity between Orthodox and Catholics "a duty"

Istanbul (AsiaNews) - The homilies for the services and celebrations for the patron of Constantinople, St. Andrew, were centered on the certainty that the common journey toward full unity between the two sister Churches - Catholic and Orthodox - is the only answer, including to the challenges of today's world in full economic, political, and social crisis.

The celebrations were attended by a large delegation from the Church of Rome, led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the council for Christian unity, representatives of the other Christian confessions, the diplomatic corps, and various authorities.

Ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew began his homily by recalling the historic meeting in Jerusalem in 1964, between Paul VI and Athenagoras, which put an end to the historic and distasteful schism of 1054 between the two sister Churches, initiating a dialogue of love and truth in full and mutual respect, with the objective of reestablishing full communion. And precisely in order to highlight this journey toward full communion, Bartholomew gave the example of the two brothers "in the flesh," Andrew and Peter, who later became spiritual brothers in Christ, to emphasize the role that the two sister Churches must play. Although the two brothers Peter and Andrew followed different geographical paths to testify to the truth of Christ our Lord - the former sanctified the Church of Rome with his own blood, while the latter founded the Church of Byzantium, which later became Constantinople - they have remained united in the course of history through the two Churches: Rome and Constantinople.

This connection between the two apostles, Bartholomew continued, the beginning of which was biological in nature, later became a spiritual bond in the name of our Lord, and ended up constituting the bond that unites the Churches. And this bond must always be kept in mind,
continued the ecumenical patriarch, in order to restore full unity. Because today, by honoring the apostle Andrew, one also honors the apostle Peter - it is not possible to think of Peter and Andrew separately. The thorns must therefore be removed which for a millennium have wounded relations between the two Churches, and guidance toward unity must be taken from the spirit of the common tradition of the seven ecumenical councils of the first millennium. And all of this is not only out of respect for our two apostles, Bartholomew concluded, but also because it is our duty toward the contemporary world, which is going through a tremendous
sociopolitical, cultural, and economic crisis. A world that has urgent need of the message of peace, of which the founder of our Church, Jesus Christ, is the messenger, through his cross and
resurrection. Only then will the word of our Church be credible, when it can also give a message of peace and love: "Come and see" (John 1:47).

Cardinal Kasper, as the pope's representative, also focused in his homily on the importance of dialogue for full unity between the Churches, saying that the same feast is celebrated today in Rome, a sign of our common apostolic heritage, which requires us to work for full communion. Because this ecumenical commitment is not an option, but a duty toward our Lord, in order to be able to consider ourselves an essential part of the Church of Christ, our Lord.

Kasper then cited the three visits of the ecumenical patriarch to Rome in 2008, which included his participation, together with Pope Benedict, in the inauguration of the Pauline year, and his address to the synod of Catholic bishops, also at the invitation of the pope. This reinforced the bonds between Rome and Constantinople. He concluded by speaking of the importance of the document of Ravenna (2007) in the dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox.

Finally, in a conversation with AsiaNews, Cardinal Kasper maintained that the journey with the Orthodox, although it will certainly not be short, has started on the right path, "in part because we have many, many things in common with the Orthodox." Moreover, Kasper continued, the fact that Constantinople has a very broad vision helps a great deal in the journey of dialogue toward full communion.

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Pope's Message to Bartholomew I

"Relations Between Us Are Entering Progressively Deeper Levels"

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of the message Benedict XVI sent to Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I for the feast of St. Andrew, which is today.

The message was delivered by a Vatican delegation sent to visit the ecumenical patriarch of
Constantinople for the occasion. The president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper and Bishop Brian Farrell, respectively, were
accompanied by Domincan Father Vladimiro Caroli, of the council, and Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, the apostolic nuncio in Ankara.

* * *

"Grace to you and peace from God the Father"' (Gal 1: 3)

It is with deep joy that I address these words of Saint Paul to Your Holiness, the Holy Synod and all the Orthodox clergy and lay people assembled for the feast of Saint Andrew, the brother of
Saint Peter and, like him, a great apostle and martyr for Christ. I am pleased to be represented
on This festal occasion by a delegation led by my venerable brother Cardinal Walter Kasper,
President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, to whom I am entrusting this
message of greetings. My own prayers join with yours as we plead with the Lord for the well-being and unity of the followers of Christ throughout the world.

I give thanks to God that he has enabled us to deepen the bonds of mutual love between us,
supported by prayer and ever more regular fraternal contact. In the course of the year that is now drawing to a close, we have been blessed three times by the presence of Your Holiness in
Rome: on the occasion of your magisterial address at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, which is
honoured to number you among its alumni; at the opening of the Pauline Year on the feast of
Rome's patron saints, Peter and Paul; and at the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, held in October on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, when you delivered a most thoughtful address.

As a sign of our growing communion and spiritual closeness, the Catholic Church for her part was represented at the celebrations of the Pauline Year overseen by Your Holiness, including a
symposium and a pilgrimage to the Pauline sites in Asia Minor. These experiences of encounter and shared prayer contribute to an increase in our commitment to attain the goal of our ecumenical journey.

In this same spirit, Your Holiness has informed me of the positive outcome of the Synaxis of the
Primates and Representatives of the Orthodox Churches, which took place recently at the
Phanar. The hopeful signs which emerged for inter-Orthodox relations and ecumenical engagement have been welcomed with joy. I believe and pray that these developments will have a constructive impact on the official theological dialogue between the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church, and will lead to a resolution of the difficulties experienced in the last two
sessions. As Your Holiness remarked during your address to the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and
Orthodox is now addressing a crucial issue which, once resolved, would draw us closer to full communion.

On this feast of Saint Andrew, we reflect with joy and thanksgiving that the relations between
us are entering progressively deeper levels as we renew our commitment to the path of prayer and dialogue. We trust that our common journey will hasten the arrival of that blessed day when we will praise God together in a shared celebration of the Eucharist. The inner life of our Churches and the challenges of our modem world urgently demand this witness of unity among Christ's disciples.

It is with these brotherly sentiments that I extend to Your Holiness my cordial greetings in the Lord, who assures us of his grace and peace.

From the Vatican, 26 November 2008

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

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