Orthodox Unity

Posted on by Fr. Peter
From Monday, May 24th – Thursday May 28th all of the canonical Orthodox Bishops in North America will be gathering for a historic meeting in new York City. Under the chairmanship of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, the bishop will gather to discuss Orthodox Unity in North America. All of the canonical bishops have been invited and some 60 bishops will attend this meeting.

Please pray for our church leaders that the power of the Holy Spirit will come upon them and the meetings will be fruitful.

As a way of preparation and understanding of this meeting, I have posted several links below to some documents and blog posts about the meeting.

Essential Documents for Understanding the Process (Orthodox Christian Laity)

Our Best Chance Yet (Ancient Faith Radio)

The Road to Unity (Ancient Faith Radio)

Unraveling Chambesy – Administrative Unity In Our Time (Ancient Faith Radio)

Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference in Chambesy (SCOBA)

The Invisible Priest

Posted on by Fr. Peter

A comment reported on the Portland, Maine, TV station, Channel 6:

“We could take a cue from Orthodoxy, whose priests stand with their backs to their congregation, leading a liturgy that is neither clever nor impassioned, but simply beautiful, like stone smoothed by centuries of rhythmic tides. It’s an austere ritual, in the sense of – there’s nothing new here; it’s sublime, in the sense of – creating a clearer view into Heaven. The priest can be any priest. Who he is, what he looks like, how he speaks, and what he thinks matter little. He hasn’t written the service that he officiates. It isn’t about him or his prowess. He’s an interchangeable functionary draped in brocaded robes, obscured by incense, and, as such, never points to himself, a flawed human, pointing ever and only to the Perfection of the Mysterious Divine. That is the role of every priest or preacher – invisibility, while making God seen.”

h/t Byzantine Texas

Orthodox Christian Fellowship seeks new Student Advisory Board members

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Orthodox Christian Fellowship — a pan-Orthodox agency under the auspices of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas — is seeking college and university students interested in serving on its Student Advisory Board [SAB].

OCF offers students the opportunity to lend their voice to this ministry by serving on the Student Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB was instituted in 2002 with an enthusiastic and God centered group of young people. This inaugural SAB initiated integral OCF programming such as Day of Prayer and organization of the regional OCF structure. These student leaders have now moved on to leadership within the Orthodox Church serving in positions such as the OCF Board of Directors and Greek Archdiocese Department of Internet Ministries.

Subsequent SAB’s have continued the inspiring vision set forth by the fist SAB. Do you have the interest, the passion, and the dedication to be apart of the newest chapter in the Student Advisory Board? Applications are now available. Click here for further information concerning SAB available positions and job expectations.

Ascension of our Lord

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Lord Jesus passed forty days on earth after His Resurrection from the dead, appearing continually in various places to His disciples, with whom He also spoke, ate, and drank, thereby further demonstrating His Resurrection. On this Thursday, the fortieth day after Pascha, He appeared again in Jerusalem. After He had first spoken to the disciples about many things, He gave them His last commandment, that is, that they go forth and proclaim His Name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. But He also commanded them that for the present, they were not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait there together until they receive power from on high, when the Holy Spirit would come upon them.

Saying these things, He led them to the Mount of Olives, and raising His hands, He blessed them; and saying again the words of the Father’s blessing, He was parted from them and taken up. Immediately a cloud of light, a proof of His majesty, received Him. Sitting thereon as though on a royal chariot, He was taken up into Heaven, and after a short time was concealed from the sight of the disciples, who remained where they were with their eyes fixed on Him. At this point, two Angels in the form of men in white raiment appeared to them and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, Who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven” (Acts 1:11). These words, in a complete and concise manner, declare what is taught in the Symbol of Faith concerning the Son and Word of God. Therefore, having so fulfilled all His dispensation for us, our Lord Jesus Christ ascended in glory into Heaven, and sat at the right hand of God the Father. As for His sacred disciples, they returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, rejoicing because Christ had promised to send them the Holy Spirit.

It should be noted that the Mount of Olives is a Sabbath’s day journey from Jerusalem, that is, the distance a Jew was permitted to walk on the day of the Sabbath. Ecumenius writes, “A Sabbath day’s journey is one mile in length, as Clement says in his fifth Stromatis; it is two thousand cubits, as the Interpretation of the Acts states.” They draw this conclusion from the fact that, while they were in the wilderness, the Israelites of old kept within this distance from the Holy Tabernacle, whither they walked on the Sabbath day to worship God.

The Hands of Christ

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Yesterday on the Orthodox liturgical calendar was the Sunday we remember the Man Born Blind the great story from the 9th chapter of St. John’s Gospel.

The story goes like this, Jesus encounters a man blind from birth. A discussion starts about who sinned him or his parents. This is the old story of we are sick because of our sins. Well as I shared during the sermon we are not sick just because of our sins. Anyway, in this story Jesus bends down and spits on the ground and makes a paste and puts it on the mans eyes and send him to wash it off. Jesus actually did something in this story. Usually he just speaks a word and the person is healed in some stories the person does not even have to be present for the healing to take place but in this story he actually does something. Christ in action.

I recently heard a story, I shared this yesterday, about a church in Europe that was being repaired after the war ended. In the church was a statue of Jesus, arms outstretched with the inscription “Come Unto Me” carved in the base. The problem, the hands were broken off. Try as they may the folks could not get the hands to stay on the statue. So they carved another inscription below the one already there, “Be My Hands.”

That is the entire Gospel message. We need to be the hands of Jesus. The hands that heal, that clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick, bind up wounds and so on. Christianity is a verb, not an adjective. We are people of action! Just a Jesus made the past to heal the man that’s what we need to do, we need to follow his example and get to work.

Are hands are amazing things. Our hands can create wonderful masterpieces that can be seen by millions in museums. But our hands can also destroy those very same masterpieces. Our hands can wave and say hello, but our hands can also wave, with not all of our fingers up, and say something else. Hands can bring peace and hands can bring war. What are you using your hands for?

Are we going to be like the blind man and use our hands to grope around in the darkness? Or are we going to use our hands, like Jesus did, and bring some comfort and relief to many. The choice is yours.

What’s Fate of Orthodox Unity and Diaspora?

Posted on by Fr. Peter
From: Orthodox Christian Laity
By Peter Marudas

Behold now, what is so good or so joyous as for brethren to dwell together in unity? Psalm 132

In late May, a meeting of potentially enormous significance for the Orthodox Church in America will occur in New York City when all Orthodox Bishops in good standing in North and Central America convene for a first-ever Episcopal Assembly. This unprecedented gathering has received little attention in most Orthodox circles and virtually none in the wider religious and secular media.

Nevertheless, its implications for the future of Orthodox Christianity in the Americas are both hopeful and controversial. The historic Episcopal Assembly will take place shortly after the Great Feast of Pentecost – the Kairos – when the Holy Spirit inspired the disciples to establish the Church.

Until 18 months ago, the mere contemplation of such a meeting would have been considered unthinkable in view of long-standing and entrenched official opposition to even discussing the question of closer intra-Orthodox relations. In recent years, a few Orthodox hierarchs with some support from clergy and laity openly but unsuccessfully championed unity initiatives. But with the exception of Orthodox Christian Laity, no group has consistently or aggressively pursued Orthodox unity in America. In October, 2008 the unity landscape experienced an earthquake, when His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew convened in Istanbul, a Synaxis (gathering) of the leaders of all Autocephalous (independent) Orthodox Churches; the entire leadership of world Orthodoxy.

At that meeting, Patriarch Bartholomew delivered a remarkable address about the dangers of division among the Orthodox in the so-called Diaspora and the pressing need for these believers to unify themselves in a way consistent with church tradition. Immediately, the assembled Orthodox leaders unanimously endorsed a communiqué calling for a process to address Diaspora issues – and to the shock of many – for the convocation of a Great and Holy Council of Orthodoxy; an encouraging announcement for those seeking greater Orthodox unity both here and abroad.

The Rest of the Story

Immigration Reform

Posted on by Fr. Peter
For the past few days I have been having a discussion with some folks on Facebook about the Arizona Immigration Reform Act. It has raised my blood pressure a little and sometimes that is not good. But discussion is always a good thing. I find some of the comments interesting. There is void between the right and the left, conservative liberal, progressive regressive, point of view or whatever we are calling it now. What is missing from all of this, compassion.

Now I will admit that we need some sort of reform, but it needs to be comprehensive reform. I believe that we need to get folks on the road to citizenship and I also believe that if we round everyone up and send them back our economy will grind to a halt. The folks who are here do most of the tasks that Americans will not do. They are ones that pick the food we eat, clean the rooms we sleep in and cut our grass. They are not the ones laying about on welfare and the like, there are some yes, but more often then not they are hard working folks. What do you do with the children of the undocumented if we send them back. Children born here are citizens regardless of how your parents got here. Another question to ponder.

The problem with legislation is we forget that real people are involved. What makes someone leave everything, or nothing in some cases, and risk their very lives to come to the land of milk and honey, and seek a better life. What makes someone pay another human to bring them across the boarder, in some of the worst conditions known to man. What makes someone tunnel underground or climb over a fence, or push out to sea in a boat, that may or may not make it here. What makes people do this, desperation. This desperation is the same thing that drove the folks from Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, and other places. It is what brings people here to the greatest country on the face of the earth.

I told a story in a previous post, about my cantor who was trying to do the right thing and obtain his green card. What I did not tell you was the coast that was associated with this. Well it was thousands of dollars to do it the right way. You see you need a lawyer and each time they fill out a form for you it costs money. Some have done it without a lawyer but most use one. So if you do not have the thousands of dollars needed, then you cannot do it.

So what do we do? The Arizona law gives the police the right to pull people over, and detain them, simply on the suspicion that they are illegal. It also forces people to carry their papers, not just an id card or passport, but their immigration papers. Now I know the argument that profiling is not allowed by this law and that is fine. But how many illegal Canadians or Russians or Romanians for that matter do you think will be pulled over by the police? Not many I am sure. Approximately 30 percent of Arizona is Hispanic and about 80 percent of undocumented folks are Hispanic so let’s do the math. Does something need to be done, yes it does.

According to Princeton political scientist Douglas Massey, the number of illegal immigrants dropped by 100,000 in Arizona over just the last year, and has fallen from 12.6 million in 2008 to 10.8 million in 2009 country-wide, as the recession means fewer jobs for immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. Things are changing on their own.

The point of all of this is each time we talk about an illegal or undocumented or whatever you want to call it we are talking about people. People who have been created in the image and likeness of God. People who have a soul, people who have the Divine Spark that we all have. America is a great country with opportunities for anyone to make it big. Do we need change, yes we do. But we need to remember that human beings are attached to this legislation. It is easy to not think of it that way and to only think of the numbers, but think of the faces of the men, women, and children who risked their life to come here to try and find a better life. Think about the people and look into their eyes.

Digital Natives Embrace Ancient Church

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Twentysomethings Captivated By Orthodoxy
By ANDREA GOODELL
The Holland Sentinel
Apr 28, 2010

Holland, MI — Tim Flinders will graduate from Grand Valley State University next month. Raised Lutheran, he also explored fundamentalist Baptism, Roman Catholicism and even Messianic Judaism before converting to Orthodox Christianity this year.

“Orthodoxy has completely transformed me already,” he said. “I feel like the first time in my life I’m growing spiritually.”

Flinders, 22, like many other young people converting to Eastern Orthodoxy, was looking for authenticity and historical accuracy in his Christian faith.“I had so many different questions that needed to be answered,” said Flinders, who added he wrestled with the many divisions of the Christian church over the years.He was chrismated Holy Saturday at St. George Orthodox Church in Grand Rapids. Chrismation is akin to confirmation.

Recently he attended the second annual Encountering Orthodoxy Conference at Hope College.

The Rev. Deacon Nicholas Belcher, dean of students at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, gave the opening keynote address, using the themes of holy week to introduce Orthodoxy to the more than 50 who attended.

Eastern Orthodox Easter, Pascha in Greek — the language favored by Orthodox everywhere — fell on the same day as Western Easter this year.

Belcher described the nailing of Jesus to the cross as “one of the most cruel things human beings have ever thought of to do to other human beings.”

Eastern Orthodox Christians, he explained, experience the crucifixion and resurrection in the now during liturgy.

“There is no sense that we are just talking about something that happened a long time ago. It is today,” he said.

Dustin Miller, a Hope senior, attended the conference for extra credit in his history of Christianity class, but said, “I’ve always been curious about Orthodoxy.”

He, too, said he was looking for the apostolic, historical roots of the Christian church. Miller considers himself non-denominational and said he didn’t know the Hope campus had Orthodox students.

“I’ve been trying to figure it out, trying to find what best fits me,” Miller said.

The Orthodox Christian Fellowship campus club, which sponsored this month’s conference, meets Thursday nights for Small Compline (a short Psalm and evening prayer service). Then the handful of Orthodox students, one seminary student and Fr. Steven VanBronkhorst discuss topics such as biblical foundations for Orthodox worship.

He would like to see more inquirers at the OCF meetings and more students at the second annual Encountering Orthodoxy Conference.

VanBronkhorst was a Reformed Church of America minister for almost two decades before coming to the Orthodox church 14 years ago. Still, VanBronkhorst said, he sees many more today looking for the historical church than when he was doing his own searching.

“I always felt that ideally there should be just one church,” he said. “The Orthodox church is by far the most historically faithful body. … Who is going to deny that the greater part of the evangelical world has the faith? They have faith. What they don’t have is the worship.”

Tyler Dykstra of Holland was chrismated this month.

He grew up Christian Reformed, but says he “wanted more.”“Over time I started to realize there was so much history I had not known about even though I had gone to Christian schools all my life,” Dykstra, 24, said.

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