We Must Preach the Truth

Posted on by Fr. Peter
As most of you know I am a priest in the Orthodox Christian Church. The Orthodox Church is a Church rich in beauty in her Liturgical practices and a Church rich in regulation in her spiritual practices. With that said I do believe that the Orthodox Church is the full expression of the Christian faith.

During the past month the newspapers have been filled with the story of Bishop Tobin of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island and Congressman Patrick Kennedy. Congressman Kennedy and Bishop Tobin have been exchanging comments on what it means to be a Roman Catholic. I hold, as Bishop Tobin does, that is you say you are something then you need to abide by all of the teachings of that particular confession.

Being a Christian is about surrender. We need to surrender our will to the other and that other is God. We no longer live for our will but for the will of the Father who created us. In essence we give up our own thoughts for those of God.

When Jesus is praying in the Garden before his arrest, he is praying that is possible let this cup pass from Him. Jesus is in His most human at this point. He knows what awaits Him and he is, for all purposes, scared. He asks to be spared from the fate that awaits Him. But in the end he surrenders to the will of the Father and we know the rest of the story.

I think Americans have a much harder time with this then perhaps Christians in other place have. We American, with all of our freedoms, do not like anyone telling us what to do. We like to have our own thoughts and our own opinions. But the Church is not America and although we have free will, we freely choose to belong to a Church and with Church membership come certain responsibilities.

Being a Christian is not easy. It is not meant to be easy. Being a Christian means to be other to not be the same as everyone else, yes it means to be different.

I believe that Christianity is black and white it is not gray at all. The Church has absolute positions on issues that should not be violated. The Church is slow to change and very deliberate when she does change and that is for a reason. The Church does not decide her theology by a series of public opinion polls and she does not change her mind with this wind or that wind. Churches that that are changing with the tide are going the way of the dodo.

I believe that another problem we face in most churches is that the ministers, and I will put myself in that position, have stopped preaching the radical Gospel for a more watered down version of the Gospel. We preach the Gospel of not offending anyone rather then the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to preach the truth, not our version of the truth, but the truth. We need to teach our people what the Church teaches. Not form the medieval sense of the Churches teaches this obey or else, but we need to teach why the Church believes this or that. This is not easy, and it is not always popular but again we have to preach the truth.

If you preach are you preaching the truth of Jesus Christ Crucified? Are you preaching what your Church teaches? (I write that last point as I have many readers who are not Orthodox) If you are a parishioner, do you know what your Church teaches on certain issues? Do you spend time reading Scripture and asking questions about what the Church teaches? When voting for candidates how much of your religious belief colors your choice?

These are not easy questions, but they are questions that deserve some thought and discussion. So discuss away. Comments are always welcome.

9 December ~ The Conception by St. Anna of the Most Holy Theotokos

Posted on by Fr. Peter
According to the ancient tradition of the Church, since Saint Anna, the Ancestor of God, was barren, she and her husband Joachim remained without children until old age. Therefore, sorrowing over their childlessness, they besought God with a promise that, if He were to grant them the fruit of the womb, they would offer their offspring to Him as a gift. And God, hearkening to their supplication, informed them through an Angel concerning the birth of the Virgin. And thus, through God’s promise, Anna conceived according to the laws of nature, and was deemed worthy to become the mother of the Mother of our Lord (see also Sept. 8).

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Against all hope, the bonds of barrenness are loosed today. For, God has hearkened unto Joachim and Anna clearly promising that they would bear a godly maiden. He who commanded the angel to cry out to her, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you,” will be born of her, the infinite One Himself, becoming man.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Today the world rejoices in the conception of Anna, wrought by God. For she bore the One who beyond comprehension conceived the Logos.

Morality and Tiger Woods

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Last Friday night I was invited on Night Side with Dan Rea on WBZ radio in Boston. The topic was supposed to be Spirituality but like all news stories last week, the Tiger Woods situation dominated the program.

One of the areas that no one is talking about in this whole strange situation in the morality of what happened. People have been too quick to excuse the action of Mr. Woods because of the amount of pressure that he is under and all of the women that throw themselves at him. So, leaving aside the actions of the day let us turn to the morality of the situation.

To put a fine point on it what we are talking about here adultery. According to Exodus 20:14 “Thou shall not Commit Adultery. Webster’s dictionary defines Adultery as “The voluntary sexual intercourse of a married person with someone not the spouse.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church 2380 states “Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations they commit adultery.” 2381 states, “Adultery is an injustice. He who commits adultery fails in his commitment. He does an injustice to the sign of the covenant which the marriage bond is, transgresses the rights of the other spouse, and undermines the institution of marriage by breaking the contract on which it is based.”

So why is it that we speak about how terrible it was that the Woods’ are having such troubles and how bad it was the Mrs. Woods chased Mr. Woods down the street with a nine iron but no one is speaking about marital infidelity?

According to various sources it would seem that 60 percent of men and 40 percent of women will have extra-marital affairs or in other words commit adultery. With all of these people out there having sex with people they are not married too why are we not talking about this aspect of the situation?

The Orthodox Church, to which I belong, has always taught that Adultery has always been condemned as a violation of the marriage bond. And the “sin” of adultery is unworthy of the Christian life. It seems that one cannot turn on the television news or pick up a newspaper without reading of one person or another that is having an affair. I would argue that the lives of celebrities are not news but that is for another day.

As we continue to scratch away at the very fabric of our society is there any room for adultery? Are we, as clergy, preparing couples enough for the difficulties of marriage and therefore are we complicit in this situation?

One of the other interesting conversations centered on the happiness of the Woods’ married life. I find it interesting that everyone is an expert on everyone else’s marriage. I am also amazed at the conversation that since he was not “getting” it so to speak at home it is okay for him to stray. How absurd this conversation is.

I am not married and I have never been married but I understand that marriages are complex relationships. These relationships require work, hard work each and very day. They require that both partners communicate their needs to the other and that the other is able to do the same. In other words communication is the key in any relationship.

So where do we go from here? Let me hear from you now.

Ordination

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Today our church will be closed as we all travel to our daughter Parish St. Nicholas in Shrewsbury to participate in the ordination as deacon of our Cantor Vasile. This is a very exciting day for Vasile but also for our little church. It has been years since we have had someone ordained for our church and although I wish it could have taken place here the important thing is that we have another minister in the church.

So I will say Axios to the new Deacon Vasile. God grant him many years!

6 December ~ Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra

Posted on by Fr. Peter
This Saint lived during the reign of Saint Constantine the Great, and reposed in 330, As a young man, he desired to espouse the solitary life. He made a pilgrimage to the holy city Jerusalem, where he found a place to withdraw to devote himself to prayer. It was made known to him, however, that this was not the will of God for him, but that he should return to his homeland to be a cause of salvation for many. He returned to Myra, and was ordained bishop. He became known for his abundant mercy, providing for the poor and needy, and delivering those who had been unjustly accused. No less was he known for his zeal for the truth. He was present at the First Ecumenical Council of the 318 Fathers at Nicaea in 325; upon hearing the blasphemies that Arius brazenly uttered against the Son of God, Saint Nicholas struck him on the face. Since the canons of the Church forbid the clergy to strike any man at all, his fellow bishops were in perplexity what disciplinary action was to be taken against this hierarch whom all revered. In the night our Lord Jesus Christ and our Lady Theotokos appeared to certain of the bishops, informing them that no action was to be taken against him, since he had acted not out of passion, but extreme love and piety. The Dismissal Hymn for holy hierarchs, The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock … was written originally for Saint Nicholas. He is the patron of all travellers, and of sea-farers in particular; he is one of the best known and best loved Saints of all time.

Human-Embryonic Stem Cells

Posted on by Fr. Peter
On December 2nd the Obama Administration approved the use of human-embryonic stem cells for experimentation by federally funded scientists under a new policy that will dramatically expand the governments support.The use of human-embryonic stem cells is a very controversial area of scientific research and it is no wonder that this was released in a very quiet way. Up to this point there had been no federal funding for this type of research.

What are human-embryonic stem cells and what is the Orthodox Christian position on their use?

According to the National Institutes of Health human-embryonic stem cells are: “Primitive (undifferentiated) cells derived from a 5-day preimplantation embryo that are capable of dividing without differentiating for a prolonged period in culture, and are known to develop into cells and tissues of the three primary germ layers.” The Orthodox Christian definition is much simpler to understand. Human-embryonic stems cells are simply life. The Orthodox Christian Church teaches that life begins at conception. The extraction of stem cells from the embryos kills the unborn child. In order for an embryo to exists it must be fertilized and therefore conception has taken place and thus it is life.

The position of the Orthodox Church on embryonic stem cell research is, “In light of the fact that Orthodox Christianity accepts the fact that human life begins at conception, the extraction of stem cells from embryos, which involves the willful taking of human life – the embryo is human life and not just a clump of cells – is considered morally and ethically wrong in every instance.”

Fr. Mark Hodges, Pastor of St. Stephen the First Martyr Orthodox Church in Lima, OH has written as article that speaks of the position of the Orthodox Christian Church and why she teaches what she teaches on this topic.

Cross Posted from Examiner.com

Remembering the Worcester Six

Posted on by Fr. Peter
10 years ago today a fire broke out at the Worcester Cold Storage building in Worcester, Massachusetts. When the fire companies arrived they were told that there might be people in the building and they needed to go in and see. Six brave men went into the building and never came back out.

I was teaching at Leciester High School in Leicester, Massachusetts then and remember that day like it was yesterday. I have been serving these last years as a Fire Chaplain mainly because of what happened on that day. Pause for a moment today to remember the Worcester Six who gave their lives that day and also remember all of these brave men a women who answer the call each and every day and put their lives on the line.

FF Paul Brotherton
FF Jeremiah Lucey
LT Thomas Spencer
LT Timothy Jackson
FF James Lyons
FF Joseph McGuirk

Christmas Back in North Andover

Posted on by Fr. Peter
As a follow up to my post earlier this week it would seem the leadership in the town of North Andover, Massachusetts have gotten the Christmas Spirit back.

Here is the article from the Lawrence Tribune

I guess there was such an outrage that the Town had no other choice but to reverse their previous decision not to allow the Fire Dept to put their 50 year old Merry Christmas sign on the fire house or allow the local Rabbi permission to put a menorah on the Town Common as they have for years. Common sense has won the day.

The big question I have is this. If it was not for this Rabbi going after the Town would we have done anything about this? No one knew about this until he started making noise. We Christians need to be as bold as he is to stand up for what is right.

So the moral of the story is, when you something wrong you need to make your voice heard. We are winning the Revolution!

Long Night

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Yesterday was one of those days. It actually started the night before. It would seem that my dog was a little sick and needed to go outside a few times during the night so it was a sleepless night.

Then yesterday I had a bible study and a meeting at the Fire House that lasted until about 10pm. So I came home and fell asleep on the sofa. At about 1:30am my pager went off for a three alarm fire and out the door I went. Stood around watching the fire and chatting with some of the guys and got back home about 3:30.

Up at 7am and got some work done. After a little trip to the Post Office I came home and took a little lay down on the sofa and woke up four hours latter. I guess the day caught up with me.

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