Come and See

Posted on by Fr. Peter
As many of you know, I am a little bit of a Twitter fanatic. I like to post things that I am doing, like watching TV or baking bread. Things like that. I also forward Tweets from people that I follow. I follow all sorts of people from politicians to TV people to clergy of all walks of life. I think we can learn from anyone regardless of what Church they belong too.

Now I know that some of the Orthodox folks who read this do not think we Orthodox need to do any other Evangelization then open the doors of the Church. Well, how’s that workin for ya? Jesus told us to go forth, not sit in the church. Ok with that in mind I posted this Tweet yesterday:

“25 percent of unchurched people said they would attend a church service tomorrow if someone would simply invite them…let’s go for it! “

Nothing replaces the personal invitation. We need to ask people to come to church. Yes some might come because they see the church or they are looking. But if you ask someone that is personal and that’s what folks need.

When Jesus began His ministry, He did not sit under a tree and wait for people to show up. He asked his Apostles to come and follow Him and the ones He did not ask Himself one of the others did. So by asking people to come to church we are following the example of Christ by asking people simply to come and see. Yes there is no greater Evangelical tool then the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church. You want to get to know us, come and see us, but they have to come in order to see. They have to be there to be able to hear the word. If no one asks, they will not come.

We have no problem telling someone about a great place to eat or asking people to come to a fund raiser at the church, but ask them to come to Liturgy…

Come and see!

The Old is Made New

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Reading is from Mark 15:43-47; 16:1-8

At that time, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Today on the Orthodox calendar this is called the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women and the Gospel posted above is the one read at Divine Liturgy on this Sunday. This is a rich Gospel passage and we have much to learn from it.

1. Joseph of Arimathea was chosen to bury the body of Jesus so it would not look like the Apostles took the body down and hid it so they could say he had been risen.

2. The women, whose faith was strong, much stronger than the men who were all hiding, was imperfect because they went to the Tomb to prepare his body for corruption.

3. There is a spiritual significance to the tomb where no one had been laid before. Christ death was like that of no other person. A death without corruption, a death leading to victory over the grave itself.

4. The tomb fulfills the image of His birth in the cave (see Luke 2:7)

But the two most striking things to learn from this Gospel passage today has to do with the women and with Peter.

The women were going to the tomb to prepare his body. The men were in hiding so the task fell to the women. The women were the first ones to witness the resurrection! Sin came into the world through the actions of a woman (Eve). Christ came into the world through a woman (Mary) now the resurrection will be announced to the world from the lips of women! This shows that order has been restored to the world. That which had been broken through sin has been restored.

No Peter is another story all together. Peter denied Christ 3 times. Peter was filled with shame and guilt. As St. Theophylact put it, “Peter would have said of himself, ‘I denied the Lord, and therefore I am no longer His disciple.'” The angels command to go and tell his disciples and Peter shows that Peter has been forgiven. We are all forgiven!

The stone has been rolled away from tomb not so Jesus could rise from the dead but so the women, and us, could look into the tomb and see that He has risen from the dead. There are no obstacles between us and seeing the risen Lord. All we have to do is look and we will see Him.

Where Are You From?

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Sharon, Massachusetts
Pine Lake, Georgia
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Fishkill, New York
Westport, Massachusetts
Parker, Colorado
Ada, Ohio
Binghamton, New York
New Bern, North Carolina
Solgohachia, Arkansas
Panama, Santiago, Veraguas
Worcester, Massachusetts
Nashville, Tennessee
Accord, Massachusetts
Saint Petersburg, Florida
Southbridge, Massachusetts
Exeter, New Hampshire
Winchester, Massachusetts
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Bowling Green, Ohio
Mountain View, California
Leasburg, Missouri
El Dorado Hills, California
Manchester, New Hampshire
Saint James, New York
Weston, Massachusetts
Auburn, Massachusetts
Syracuse, New York
Stamford, Connecticut
San Antonio, Texas
West Barnstable, Massachusetts
Woodstock, Connecticut
Anchorage, Alaska
Portugal, Rio De Mouro, Lisboa
Detroit, Michigan
Brooksville, Florida
Southborough, Massachusetts
Thousand Oaks, California
Tampa, Florida
Greece, Methni, Pieria
Troy, New York
Hagerstown, Maryland
Maynard, Massachusetts
Canada, Toronto, Ontario
Waltham, Massachusetts
Pittston, Pennsylvania
Romania, Bucharest, Vaslui
Libertyville, Illinois
Mountain View, California
Philippines, Las Pias, Rizal
Tomball, Texas
Columbia, South Carolina
Memphis, Tennessee
Saint James, New York
Garden Grove, California
Little Rock, Arkansas
Jessup, Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland
Marrero, Louisiana
Long Beach, California
Canada, Dorval, Quebec

Clergy Shame in Florida

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Several months ago I posted about a Greek Priest being assaulted in Florida by a member of the US Marine Corps. The initial report made it sound as if the priest was lost and simply stopped and asked directions of a person on the side of the road. It was said at the time that the man thought he was a Muslim and beat him with a tire iron. I was enraged by this attack, not simply because it was a priest but because of the justification the man used for beating the priest.

Thanks to the AOI blog it seems the truth is coming out. Click here for the whole story and a video of a press conference but the long and short of it is this priest pursued this man into a garage and grabbed him. It appears that the garage is very close to a known gay hang out and you would not get lost by driving into a garage that you can see clearly in the video he follows closely to anther car to get into this gated area.

Files this under snap judgements and I will apologize to this Marine who was simply defending himself from an attack. If you watch the video you will see at the end when he speak he is not crazy but well spoken. He finally got his day in court but where has this priest gone. If I remember this story he has been sent back to Greece. Well this is not right and I believe this priest should be brought back to the US to face charges of assault on this man. At the very least this disgrace to the priesthood should never be allowed to serve at an altar again. If bishops are hiding him then they need to go as well!

National Day of Prayer

Posted on by Fr. Peter
This past week, a Federal Judge in Wisconsin ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional based on the Establishment Clause. I could care less to tell you the truth.

I have never been a big fan of organized days like this because everyday should be a National Day of Prayer and we do not need a law or a ruling from a judge to tell us that. All this day was, was a time for the politicians to meet with selected religious leaders, have a meal, and say a prayer. It was more of a time for the religious leaders to lobby the politicians than anything.

Some people see this as another nail in the religious coffin in this country and I say we have freedom of religion in this country, and that means we also have freedom from religion in this country. I have a real problem with government sponsored prayer. I have a problem with the fact that the House of Representatives and the US Senate have chaplains. (Who are paid quit well the by the way). This should not be the case.

Until 1952 we did not feel we needed a law to tell us we needed to pray for the Country. The National Day of Prayer was founded to pray for our victory over the godless Communists. Well, they are gone and I don’t think we need this particular law anymore.

St. Paul tells us that we are to pray always and everywhere. St. Escriva the founder of the Opus Dei said we are to sanctify the ordinary. Part of the monastic ethos is prayer and work. And these things have been going on since the foundation of the Christian Church. Muslims and Jews pray three times a day. Why do we need a law to tell us to pray.

We have far bigger things to worry about in this world of ours than weather or not we have a national day of prayer.

To steal the line from Nike, “Just Do It!” So that should be our mantra, “Prayer, Just Do It!”

15 April ~ Padarn of Wales

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Paternus of Wales (Padarn of Wales) (5th–6th century), monk and bishop, probably from SE. Wales in birth and education. Padarn is principally famous as the founder of Llanbadarn Fawr (Dyfed) of which he was both abbot and bishop for twenty years and from which he evangelized the neighbouring countryside. He seems to have been more closely associated with Roman civilization than some other early Welsh saints. His dedications to the west, Llanbadarn Fach (= Trefeglwys) and Llanbadarn Odwyn and Pencarreg, are closely connected with one Roman road, and his eastern dedications in the former county of Radnorshire (Llanbadarn Fawr, Llanbadarn Fynydd, and Llanbadarn Garreg) with another. Padarn was formerly much honoured in Wales; the Book of Llan Dav testifies to the importance of his Cardiganshire monastery and from there in c.1120 was written a Life of Padarn which conflates two different saints into one: this Welsh saint and a Breton one who was bishop of Vannes. Feast: 15 April (including Gloucester and Malmesbury).

Priest Arrested for Solicitation

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Yesterday, a story broke of a young Roman Catholic priest arrested for solicitation of sex in New Hampshire. I know this priest and was in the seminary with him. I make no excuses for his actions nor should anyone. My issue is with how it is being reported. And before you blame the so called “liberal” media read on.

I am choosing the Boston Herald, not know as a liberal paper, as the example of how this is being spun. The headline reads, “Priest’s hooker arrest rocks Chelmsford parish.” Okay I am sure this true but what a sensational headline. What the story will not tell you is he was arrested with 7 others who responded to an ad on Craigs List. Why is it that the other 6 get a free pass but this one person gets the headlines? Why is it that the other six will all be arraigned together but this one will be arraigned separately?

Now again not defending his actions, because he went there looking for sex, but according to reports in various press outlets, he responded to the ad to come to a motel in New Hampshire. The ad was placed by the police. He did not exchange money with anyone, nor have sex with anyone. He was arrested for basically just showing up.

This story has already renewed the call to make celibacy in the Roman Church optional. Okay we in the Orthodox Church have optional celibacy and I can tell you we have many, many dysfunctional clergy families. I can also tell you that if I was married I would not be able to be here as priest because this parish could not afford a married priest, so they would not have a priest if a celibate priest was not available to them. This really has nothing to do with clerical celibacy and more to do with formation and on going spiritual direction. It also has to do with decisions and the ramifications of those decisions. This priest made a bad decision and he will have to pay the price for that. Maybe even spend a little time in jail. I also think it makes him a little more human. We are all sinners and have fallen short of the grace of God and priests are no different.

Please pray for this priest. Pray for all of the priests out there. Are there some bad apples yes there are. But thanks be to God there are more good apples than bad ones. Every time this happens the priesthood, and let me say I feel it as well and I am not a Roman Priest, take a little hit. Each time I go outside in my “priest clothes” I wonder if people are looking at me and wondering if I am on my way to molest someone. Right or wrong this is how I feel and I know many priests who feel the same way.

The Church is under attack by the forces of darkness. Darkness cannot stand the light and tries to extinguish the light. That is what is happening here. We need to stand up to the darkness by being the light and let our light shine bright. The light will beat the darkness every time.

The Church

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The last few weeks have seen another flare up in the abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. Part of this has been calls for reform in the Church. As I have said on a number of occasions, the Church does not change very easily nor should it. The Church does not change because of public opinion polls.

The Church and when I use Church I mean Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, have a hierarchy and a system for change. In both cases they require a synod of bishops. In the case of the Orthodox Church it requires an Ecumenical Council, that is a gathering of all the words bishops. The Church can change procedure and it has from time to time, but things like clergy celibacy and ordination of women are not procedures but doctrine and these are harder to change.

The staying power of the Church is that is does not change. We Orthodox will say that our theology has been the same for 2,000 years and this is true. How we speak about theology has changed over the years, and things that need to be clarified have been. But I as a priest, or a single bishop, do not have the power, if you will, to make whole sale changes in theology. I would also submit that in the Orthodox Church those mentioned already do not have the power to change the churches liturgy. I do not believe you would ever see a gathering of bishops for example, meet and say we are no longer going to use the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom we are going to use the Liturgy of Bishop Snuffy. That will not happen. I would also submit that they do not have the power to change the Liturgy. What I mean by that is they do not have the right to remove portions of the Liturgy we use.

It has been my experience that Churches who are wishy washy or try to be politically correct run into all sorts of problems. Just look at what is happening to the Episcopal Church here in the United States. I am not saying they are wrong, just that when you let people do whatever they want and believe whatever they want there is a cost associated with that.

The Church is not a democracy. It never has been. Yes there was a time when bishops in the Roman Church were elected, and bishops in the Orthodox Church are elected, at least for the time being, but theology is not subject to opinion polls. The truth is the truth and that is absolute. The truth was the same yesterday as it is today. The truth can never change. The way we speak about the truth can change, but the truth cannot.

Obedience and the Priest

Posted on by Fr. Peter
This past Sunday I preached about faith, and where your faith lies. Dies it lie with the Institutional Church or with Jesus Christ? This is the question each of us needs to ask ourselves.

The past few weeks have seen another flare up in the Roman Catholic Church clergy abuse situation. Who knew what and who did what and what not. Once again we see the media thrashing the church, but as I told my congregation on Sunday, the media is not about telling the truth the media is about profit. The media is about whatever will sell papers or get you to tune in and watch. That’s their job. Like it or not the days of true journalistic ethics is gone. If it bleeds it leads!

Yesterday the Boston Globe ran a story about Fr. James Scahill priest at St. Michael Roman Catholic Church in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. During his Sunday homily Fr. James called for the resignation of Pope Benedict. I am not going way into the fray here on weather he should or should not resign. I will say they need a better media strategy but that is for another day. The interesting this about the story yesterday, and the follow up story today, is people are mad at Fr. James for telling the truth. This is where the title of this post comes in.

In the comments section on Facebook where I posted this story, someone brought up the question of priestly obedience and the vows they make at their ordination. At the ordination of a priest in the Roman Church, they place their hand in the hands of the bishop, look into their eye and promise obedience to that bishops and their successors. We Orthodox do not make such a vow, if face we make no vows at our ordination. I always say they are implied. Sort of the fine print in the contract.

But what does this obedience mean?

When I was in the seminary, at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts. That’s the Roman Catholic Seminary of the Archdiocese of Boston, I was there when the scandal broke wide open in Boston. At first it looked like it was a few cases but as time went on the true horror of the entire thing came out. Not to diminish the effects of sexual abuse, but to me the large scandal was the cover up. Moving priests from place to place. The stone walling of local authorities trying to investigate crimes that had been committed and using legal tactics that could only have been learned at the Bill Clinton School of Law. “It depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is.

As time went on, a group of 50 priests signed a letter calling for the resignation of then Archbishop Law of Boston. Almost immediately, the church machine went into action and started to leak stories about each priest that signed the letter and one by one they started to lose position in the church. There are many stories of priests who spoke out, or tried to speak out, before, during, and after all of this and how they were thrown on the pile. It is amazing how fast a priest who speaks out is dispatched but one who rapes is not. Makes one think.

So what about obedience?

My personal feeling is that this vow of obedience is not blind obedience. What if the bishop went off the reservation so to speak and started preaching and teaching things against the faith? Would a priest have to be obedient and follow his instructions? Where does ones obedience to man end and your obedience to the church or better yet your obedience to Jesus Christ begin?

I have said this before. Our job as preachers and teachers is to speak the truth and speak for those who have no voice. This will not make up popular, but then again we are not supposed to be popular. Being a Christian is not easy, and leading a Christian community is not easy either.

There is an old saying in the Orthodox world that goes something like this. You take man, dress his up like a Byzantine Emperor, place him in the center of the Church, and sing that he lives for ever, no wonder it goes to their heads. This saying has to do with Bishops.

We need more brave priests and lay people who will speak out when they see things that are wrong. However, one also has to understand that the Church does not run by polls and doctrine is not changed because of the latest fad. The message of the church is eternal and should never change. The way we speak about it needs to change, but the message should remain the same. The church does not need to change because society demands it, no the church needs to change society. Those churches that have watered down their theology, and never speak about sin, the Devil, or hell, are going the way of to Doto bird. We need to speak the truth in a loud and clear voice.

My advice to Rome, of they are willing to hear it. Open wide the doors and clean house. If there is a priest, bishop, Pope or whatever that has molested, covered it up, or anything else they need to be gone. Not tomorrow but today! They need to be turned over to the local authorities and all of their records need to be given to the authorities as well. This needs to be done now!

It is not blind obedience, and if it is blind obedience then that obedience needs to be only to the teachings of Jesus Christ and not another man or to an institutional church.

BREAKING NEWS ~ Polish Orthodox Bishop Killed in Plane Crash

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Word has just reached us that the Orthodox Bishop for the Polish Military Vicariate was on board the plane that went down in Russia this morning. The President of Poland was on board as well and there were no survivors.

Archbishop Miron Chodakowski was 51 years old and the Bishop for Poland’s military. More information as it becomes available

Memory Eternal

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