7 February ~ Richard of the West Saxons

Posted on by Fr. Peter
St. Richard of Swabia also known as St. Richard, King of Wessex (Kingdom of the West Saxons) is the brother of St. Boniface. It is uncertain whether or not he was crowned a king in this life, but he is certainly numbered with the “kings and priests” in the Kingdom of Christ.
St. Richard was the father of Saints Willibald, Winnebald, and Walburga. He and his two sons left England to undertake a pilgrimage of penance and devotion. They made their way through France. Then Richard fell ill and reposed in Lucca, Italy, in 722. He was buried in the Church of St. Frediano. Miracles were reported at his tomb and he became greatly venerated by the citizens of Lucca, who embellished accounts of his life by calling him “king of the English”.
His sons, joined by their sister, were recruited by their uncle, the newly elevated Bishop Boniface of Germany, to evangelize Germany. St. Walburga was the first abbess in Heidenheim. St. Willibald settled in Eichstatt. Some of St. Richard’s remains were then translated to Eichstatt, and many there were healed through his intercessions. His connection to Swabia is apparently due to devotion to him after his repose for miracles worked through his intercession.
Troparion: Tone 3
Accepting Christ our God as King, O Father Richard, thou didst leave thy native Wessex to be a pilgrim. Pray that in our pilgrimage we may find salvation for our souls.

Source

Mother Teresa’s humility list

Posted on by Fr. Peter

1. Speak as little as possible about yourself.
2. Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.
3. Avoid curiosity.
4. Do not interfere in the affairs of others.
5. Accept small irritations with good humor.
6. Do not dwell on the faults of others.
7. Accept censures even if unmerited.
8. Give in to the will of others.
9. Accept insults and injuries.
10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.
11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.
12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.
13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.
14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.
15. Choose always the more difficult task.

h/t Young Fogeys

Another Whack at Religious Freedom

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The National Review – In Catholic churches across the country, parishioners were read letters from the pulpit this weekend from bishops in their diocese about the mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services giving Catholics a year before they’ll be required to start violating their consciences on insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs. But not in the Army.

A statement released this afternoon — which happens to be the 67th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Dorchester, on which four chaplains lost their lives – from the Archdiocese for Military Services explains:

On Thursday, January 26, Archbishop Broglio emailed a pastoral letter to Catholic military chaplains with instructions that it be read from the pulpit at Sunday Masses the following weekend in all military chapels. The letter calls on Catholics to resist the policy initiative, recently affirmed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, for federally mandated health insurance covering sterilization, abortifacients and contraception, because it represents a violation of the freedom of religion recognized by the U.S. Constitution.
The Army’s Office of the Chief of Chaplains subsequently sent an email to senior chaplains advising them that the Archbishop’s letter was not coordinated with that office and asked that it not be read from the pulpit. The Chief’s office directed that the letter was to be mentioned in the Mass announcements and distributed in printed form in the back of the chapel.
Archbishop Broglio and the Archdiocese stand firm in the belief, based on legal precedent, that such a directive from the Army constituted a violation of his Constitutionally-protected right of free speech and the free exercise of religion, as well as those same rights of all military chaplains and their congregants.
Following a discussion between Archbishop Broglio and the Secretary of the Army, The Honorable John McHugh, it was agreed that it was a mistake to stop the reading of the Archbishop’s letter. Additionally, the line: “We cannot — we will not — comply with this unjust law” was removed by Archbishop Broglio at the suggestion of Secretary McHugh over the concern that it could potentially be misunderstood as a call to civil disobedience.
The AMS did not receive any objections to the reading of Archbishop Broglio’s statement from the other branches of service.

So not only were chaplains told not to read the letter, but an Obama administration official edited a pastoral letter . . . with church buy-in?

Didn’t people flee across an ocean-sized pond to be free of this kind of thing?

UPDATE: Army spokesman confirms “the Army asked that the letter not be read from the pulpit.”

h/t Byzantine Texas Blog

Why we do What we do

Posted on by Fr. Peter
If you have been following these pages you know that my parish, St. Michael Orthodox Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts has been hosting a Community Meal for the last two years. The idea of this meal is to provide a meal for members of the community, regardless of the position and economic situation. It is also designed to bring community together. People come to the church hall around 4 pm and sit over a cup of coffee and chat and visit with each other. Sometimes a person sits alone at a table but before long they are joined by others and community starts to form.
We have a wonderful crew here that helps serve this meal and clean up and the parish has made the commitment these last two years to fund the meal. We do not charge for the meal but if you like you can leave a little donation in the basket on the table.
We started the meal once a month which then grew into twice a month and has now gone to three times each month starting in February. We were supposed to start in January but the floor in the hall was being replaced. It has been a joy to meet people and sit with them and listen to their stories. A joy and sometimes a heart ache as people share stories about how hard it is to make ends meet.
Last night, as I was “working the room,” I heard one of those stories. There was a man sitting at the table and as I walked by he called out to me and said thank you for providing this meal and thank you for adding another week. He told me how difficult it is to make ends meet with the little bit of money he receives, he is disabled and gets a little money from the State and after paying rent, utilities, and medication there is little left for food. He told me how he has watched the price of food continually increase yet his income has stayed about the same over the last few years. But with all of that said he was still a very happy guy, happy to be with other people and happy to have a meal that he said, “he did not have to cook!”
I walked away thinking, this is why we do this! He is the reason why we do what we do. He is our neighbor and providing a meal for him is showing love for him and that is what we as Christians are called to do.
Sharing a meal with someone is one of the most basic things we can for them. When Jesus met with people he was always concerned for their needs and food was always part of His ministry to them.
I am thankful that we at St. Michaels have decided that we are going to be a church of action and church where her people roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. I have said this before, Christianity calls us to action. We cannot call ourselves Christians if we do not GO and DO.

Orthodox Bishops Speak Out Against HHH Mandate

Posted on by Fr. Peter
– The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, which is comprised of the 65 canonical Orthodox bishops in the United States, Canada and Mexico, join their voices with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and all those who adamantly protest the recent decision by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and call upon all the Orthodox Christian faithful to contact their elected representatives today to voice their concern in the face of this threat to the sanctity of the Church’s conscience.
In this ruling by HHS, religious hospitals, educational institutions, and other organizations will be required to pay for the full cost of contraceptives (including some abortion-inducing drugs) and sterilizations for their employees, regardless of the religious convictions of the employers.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. This freedom is transgressed when a religious institution is required to pay for “contraceptive services” including abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization services that directly violate their religious convictions. Providing such services should not be regarded as mandated medical care. We, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops, call upon HHS Secretary Sebelius and the Obama Administration to rescind this unjust ruling and to respect the religious freedom guaranteed all Americans by the First Amendment.

Massachusetts Death with Dignity

Posted on by Fr. Peter
For several years different groups in Massachusetts have attempted to pass a law that would make Physician Assisted Suicide legal in the Commonwealth. One such bill is making its way through the Massachusetts State Legislature at the present time. The aim is to place this on the ballot for the General Election in November.
H 2233 An Act relative to death with dignity was filed By Stoughton Democrat Louis Kafka on January 24, 2011 with the support of six Representatives and referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. At the time of this writing the bill is sitting the Join Committees hands and no public hearing has been scheduled. The State Legislature has to act by the end of May of the question is to appear on the ballot in November.
In September of 2011 Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley certified the measure and the backers had to collect 68,911 signatures state wide. That is what led to the filing of the legislation. Legislatures can pass the legislation which would then become law send it to the ballot for the voters to decide, or do nothing. If the latter route is chosen the organizers would then have to collect an additional 11,485 signatures to place the question on the ballot.
In essence the bill would allow, “for legislation to allow for physician assisted suicide for qualified patients to end their lives” and this is unacceptable for an Orthodox Christian. In his book, Contemporary Moral Issues Facing Orthodox Christians, Orthodox Moral Ethicist Fr. Stanley Harakas states; “The Orthodox Church has always taught that euthanasia constitutes the deliberate taking of human life, and as such is to be condemned as murder.”
At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Medical Society in December of 2011, the President of the Society, Dr. Lynda Young had this to say about the pending legislation; “Physicians of our Society have clearly declared that physician-assisted suicide is inconsistent with the physician’s role as healer and health care provider. At the same time we recognize the importance of patient dignity and the critical role that physicians have in end-of-life care,” (emphasis added)
In this writers opinion this Legislation needs to be defeated. The Legislature is the first place to make our voice heard. Let your Representatives know how you feel on this issue. Contact them by phone, letter, or email it only takes a few moments. If you are unsure of who your Representatives are you can look them up here. A text of the bill can be found here, and the members of the Joint Committee on Judiciary can be found here.
Let your voice be heard, the time to act is now.

The Sacrament of Holy Unction and the Care of the Sick

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Most Reverend Ioan Cassian
Auxiliary Bishop
Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in the Americas

The year 2012 has been dedicated by the Romanian Patriarchate to the Sacrament of Holy Unction and the Care of the Sick. Just as last year we concentrated on the two Sacraments of Baptism and Crowning seeking to discern their meaning, effects, and their ethical-moral repercussions in the life of the Christian believer this year we will examine another Sacrament: Holy Unction with one of the subjects related to it: illness, which has always been a concern to the human spirit with regard to understanding the profound reasons for its existence.It is not surprising that the first Gospel Reading from the Holy Unction service has a dual focus: the motive or profound rationale for the Christian ethos, which is love for God and one’s fellow man, reflected in the dialog between the lawyer and the Savior, and illustrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Through all this we realize that, in fact, the essence of the Sacrament (and I would add, of each of the Sacraments) is love; the love that is the essence of the entire message of the Holy Scriptures. The sum total of the Law and the Prophets, of the Holy Scriptures, is love for God and one’s neighbor. What follows in the manifestation of the Christian ethos is nothing other than the making visible of the law of love in the actions we undertake. St. John the Evangelist puts the problem this way: how can someone show his or her love for God, whom he has not seen, if he does not prove it through his love for his brother or sister whom he has seen (I John 4:20)? In fact, care for one’s neighbor is the visible or concrete expression of one’s love for God.
The word love is thus visibly incarnated in our life and our actions, continuing to manifest the love of the Son of God and of the Trinity felt by the Holy Apostles, who then endeavored to put it into words and deeds as an eternal witness to all ages. It is the central and eternal message of the true Church, which remains a partaker in the presence, ministry, and grace of God that creates it and sets it as a sign and reality of His existence and economy.

H.R. 1179: Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Last week I posted an essay about the removal of the Conscious Clause from the Health Care Law.  In essence it removes the right of religious institutions, such as the church, from objecting to an insurance policy that allows payment for Birth Control, Abortions, etc.  This historic move has never been taken prior to this and it is done a policy of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Obama Administration has come under increasing pressure from the Roman Catholic Church as well as Evangelical Churches who feel, as do I, that this is an attack on our Religious Liberty.

Today it was brought to m y attention that a bill has been filed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.  H.R. 1179: Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011 was sponsored by Nebraska Congressman Jeffrey Fortenberry and at present has 102 co-sponsors.  S. 1467, the Senate version of this bill was filed by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt and as of this writing has 24 co-sponsors.

I would urge my readers to contact your Representatives and Senators and ask them to sign on as co-sponsors of this bill.  The more co-sponsors a bill has the faster it will move through Congress.  It takes only a few short minutes to call.  I called Rep. Richard Neal, Sen. Scott Brown, and Sen. John Kerry and it took less than 5 minutes.  Tell them who you are and where you are from and urge them to sing on as a co-sponsor.  The more calls they receive the better chance they will take action.  Remember every member of the House of Representatives is standing for election this year and we need to make our voice heard.

If you are not sure who your Representatives and Senators are try this site.  I have also added a little widget over on the right hand side of this blog with updates to the House Bill.

The government governs with the consent of the People, that is you and me!  Make your voice heard today.

Week of Christian Unity

Posted on by Fr. Peter
St. Mary & St. Mena Coptic Orthodox Church
All over the world, during the last week of January, Christians come together for the week of Christian Unity. Christians from a variety of confessions come together to celebrate not what divides us but what brings us together. Now I know that some hard core Orthodox readers will say that we should not gather at such services and pray with the “heterodox” well I have a much different view and our witness is extremely important and might I add welcome at the table.
Yesterday I had the honor of being selected as the preacher for the Service of the Rhode Island Council of Churches. Each State in the USA has a council made up of all faith groups in the given State. The service was held at St. Mary and St. Mena Coptic Orthodox Church in Hope, Rhode Island. The Church is brand new and actually not completed on the inside. The construction equipment was very evident all over the sanctuary but one could see the potential of what this church would become.
I had never been to a Coptic Orthodox Service before and although this was not a Divine Liturgy we were still given a glimpse of what their service was like.
We gathered at the back of the church to process in. Processions are not part of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and I am actually not sure if they are part of the Coptic Church, but we did process into the Church.
A choir led the way chanting and using little cymbals and a triangle, it was very cool, very joyous and a great way to enter the Church. I would estimate more than 100 people in attendance sitting in folding chairs amidst the dust and plastic covered pieces of the new Church.
The service began with a welcome from the pastor of the Church Fr. Marcos Girgis who explained what the Church would look like when completed. He also gave us some background on the Coptic Orthodox Church founded by St. Mark in Upper Egypt. His daughter Dr. Douaa Girgis then gave the assembled congregation and update on the situation of Christians not only in Egypt but in the Middle East. The situation is grim. We then watched a short, very graphic, video that put into pictures what Dr. Girgis had just explained with words. It was hard not to be moved by the plight of our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. During my sermon I challenged the people to get mad and get going and put pressure on the US government to intervene, with more than just money, and put pressure on the international community to do something about this.
I had prepared a text, but as is my custom, I tend to stray from the prepared words and ad lib a little. I have posted the text as another entry but it is only the outline of what I had to say. The most interesting thing and a new experience for me, was that the church uses projection screens and the speaker in the pulpit is projected up on the large walls on either side of the Sanctuary. About half way down there are two large TV screen hanging from poles for the same purpose. They were not in use but I was told this is done because of the large crowd of people that come to the church on Sunday. I was told there are more than 150 kids in the Sunday School! The Church started 20 years ago with about 20 families and now is bursting at the seams with more than 300 families.
It was strange and a little distracting being projected on the big screen but you get used to it. I did say that if I knew I was going to be on the Jumbo Tron I would have spent more time doing my hair!
Overall the service was a wonderful celebration of faith, a shared faith although expressed in different ways. The interesting thing was not only were Lutherans, Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Methodists, and Roman Catholics in attendance but we had Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox in attendance. The division among the Christian traditions is sad but the divisions among the Orthodox is very sad, and even the Orthodox are divided in America into different ethnic jurisdictions. The assembled clergy is hopeful that this situation can be rectified soon.
It was an honor to have been invited to preach and an honor to be in the Church of St. Mary and St. Mena. I asked Fr. Marcos to please invite me back when it is completed as I would love to see it.
Please continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. We in America have no idea what it means to be persecuted for our faith, we need to thank God every day that we live in a country where we can freely worship our chosen god and that we have the ability to gather, as we did yesterday, and celebrate.

Rhode Island Council of Churches Sermon

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Sunday, January 29, 2012
St. Mary and Mena Coptic Orthodox Church, Hope, Rhode Island
Reverend Clergy, Brothers and Sisters it is a joy for me to be with you on this day in this magnificent Church and to share with you some thoughts. I bring you greetings from my small parish in Southbridge, Massachusetts and I thank you for the invitation to be here with all of you today. Please forgive my voice; I am suffering from the last remnants of a cold that seems to be holding on to me.
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ. In the Gospel of St. John that was read a few moments ago we heard these words;
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.” John 12:24-26
We have a custom in the Orthodox Church that after the death of someone they are remembered on the 40th day after their death as well as yearly for the first three years with a memorial service. The service includes prayers and the singing of Memory Eternal to remind us that we need to keep the memory of the one who has gone before us alive in our hearts. Placed on a small table outside of the Holy Place will be a tray that holds boiled wheat that has been sweetened and spiced as a reminder of the affirmation of God’s promise that those who have died in Christ will rise again to life.
Jesus often uses what I call, farm references when he speaks to His Apostles and those around Him. Some of the subtleties are lost on us in our 21st century world as many of us no longer farm. Oh sure we may have a garden out back with some tomato plants but we do not rely on the works of our hands to survive so if the plant does not grow to its full potential it does not matter. But the thing to remember is that unless the seed dies it cannot bring new life. We need to do the same thing and St. John reminds us of that in his Gospel.
When we decide to become followers of Jesus Christ we are turning our backs on the world and all of its empty promises. I am reminded of the story from Scripture of Jesus being tempted in the desert after his 40 day fast. The world is constantly telling us that if you just turn your back on Jesus all will be well. We live in a society that tells us that no one has the right to tell us how to live and how to act. And it would seem that we live now in a society that does not glorify the things of heaven but the things of earth and of the flesh. We live in a world today that tells us it is okay to do what you want, we live in a world today that has all but removed sin from our vocabulary. We live in a world that has become selfish, but we are called to be just the opposite of what the world wants of us and that is not an easy task. In order for us to become something new, like the stalk of wheat, we must first die, die to ourselves and die to the world.
The early writers of the church use the image of crucifying the flesh, not our mortal flesh but the flesh of the passions. St. Paul uses this same imagery in his letter to the Galatians where he lists the passions, or the vices; adultery, fornication, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, jealousy, heresies, drunkenness, envy, and murder just to name a few. But he does not leave us without hope as he then tells us what we can do; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… These are the fruits of the spirit.
Dying to one’s self is not an easy part of the journey but if we are to become a new creation dying, like the seed is the first step.
I am a monastic in the Orthodox Church. I have taken vows publically and have chosen to live a life that goes against what the world wants me to be. I will never be rich, by worldly standards and I will never be famous, infamous maybe, but after today who knows. This might be my launching pad! During the service of tonsure of a monastic I was clothed with the very garments I am wearing today.
During the Tonsure service when the Monk makes the profession of his vows, several symbols are presented to him by the Abbot. These symbols remind him of the life that he is now beginning.
It is the tradition that the new monk is given a new name as a sign of being a new creation.
This is a very visible and public way of living out the passage we heard from John’s Gospel. This is not always a practical thing of people to do. So how do we do this?
Jesus gives us the instruction Himself. When the rich young man comes to Him and asks what he must do Jesus tells him to obey the commandments of love God and love of neighbor. That is it really. We have to love God with our whole heart, mind and soul. But it does not end there for we have to then show that love of God by loving our neighbor. Not always an easy thing to do but it is not optional.
Our entire journey in the spiritual life is not meant to be a sprint but a marathon. This is another thing that goes against what the world wants of us. Instant gratification is not part of the spiritual life but is something that happens gradually over time, a life time. The seed does not spring up into the wheat stock the second it is placed in the ground; it takes time and love and care to bring it to its full potential. That is exactly what the spiritual life is all about bringing you, and me, to our fullest potential in Christ.
The theme today is “We will be changed… by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ” we have already been changed we have already been called to be what we are called to be and that is children of the light and of the day. We have been called to be instruments of change in this world if not us then who? If not now than when?
I was reminded recently that the first word of the Great Commission is “go” we must go we must do we must become! The life of a Christian is action, we are people of action. St. James tells us in his letter that faith without works is dead. It is not enough to just love God we must love our neighbor and in order to do that we must go!
Mahatma Gandhi said that if we want to see change then we must become the change we want to see. It is like that old hymn; “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” We must not leave this place today until we all make the decision that we must die, die to ourselves and die to the world. We will in fact be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, in fact we have already been changed but unless the grain of wheat dies it cannot bring forth new life.
I would like to end with a quote from one of my favorite saints of the Orthodox Church. St. Herman of Alaska is credited with bringing the Orthodox faith to Alaska and by doing that bringing the faith to America. He was a simple man that just loved his people, loved them so much that he was often at odds with the world. Saint Herman is a great example of how we can be transformed and then how we can transform the world. I leave you this this;
“From this day forth, from this hour, from this minute, let us love God above all, and strive to do His holy will.”
God Bless You All
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