Some of the content will be the same as on these pages but some might be different so check it out from time to time.
Here is the link to the Article from the Eagle Tribune. Now before you go nuts and start sending me hate mail. The Merry Christmas sign has been on the Fire Station for 50 years. Why this year? Why now? The PC Police are at it again and we need to take back our Country from them. I say we hire a lawyer as file a law suite. Any lawyers out there want to take the case?
Here are the names and email addresses of the Selectman from the Christmas Hating PC Town of North Andover, Massachusetts. Do you thing and email away. Be nice and polite and end your email with MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Tracy M. Watson, Chairman 978-208-7224
Daniel P. Lanen, Vice Chairman 978-857-7555
Rosemary Connelly Smedile, Clerk 978-689-2949
Richard A. Nardella, Chairman, Licensing Commission 978-975-7222
William F. Gordon 978-685-1471
Fr. Basil writes in his first entry:
The purpose of this blog is a simple one: to provide a form to discuss many of the leadership challenges facing the clergy and faithful of the Orthodox Church, particularly (but not always exclusively) in North America.
These things a worthy of discussion and need to be brought into the light of day. We clergy are held to higher standards and if we want to be the moral leaders that we are supposed to be then we need to live lives that compliment our call.
Give it a read.
Grief is one of those funny things as many people do not really know how to express grief. Grief is important and must be dealt with in an appropriate way or it can cripple you.
I used to think that if you knew the person was dying then it would be easier when they went but I do not think that is necessarily true. Loss is loss no matter when it happens. Yes when the person is dying you do have a chance to say goodbye and all of that rather then if the person gets run over by a bus for example. But it is not any easier to deal with.
Recently I presided at a funeral for a young man with a young family. Cancer took him way too young and his children will have to grow up with only memories of their father. They were great at the funeral by the way.
One of the things that has always impressed me about the Orthodox Funeral Service is the Final Goodbye. The casket is open in the church during the funeral, and prior to the final blessing all the assembly is invited to come forward and pay their final respects. Some simply walk by and nod others pause and pray and some some extreme emotion. Saying goodbye is an important part of the process and we need to say goodbye.
Emotion is something that we need to be able to express. After another funeral years ago, the widow told me that she does not cry that crying is wrong. Oh I have to beg to differ! Crying is an important emotion and we need to cry. I am not saying that we need to wail when we cry but we do need to express our emotions.
Grief does not only affect us with death we can grieve many things. Loss of a job, loss of a home, a pet, etc. We can even grieve when our favorite football teams plays like idiots! Okay I am better now.
Grief is a complex emotion that needs to be dealt with and you should not deal with it alone. Find a trusted friend or member of the clergy and share your grief.
The Reading is from Luke 18:18-27
At that time, a ruler came to Jesus and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said, “All these I have observed from my youth.” And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard this he became sad, for he was very rich. Jesus looking at him said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
This Sunday I preached on what we need to give up to Come and Follow Christ. I used the example of Fr. Daniel Sysoiev who was murdered in his Moscow Church by a masked gunman for preaching against Islam and converting Muslims to Christianity. Fr. Daniel is New Martyr in our Orthodox Church, not the first and certainly not the last, to fall at the hands of radical Islam. Fr. Daniel gave his life for preaching the truth, are we willing to die a martyrs death for the truth?
Let me explain. In Eastern Europe, where the Orthodox Church is the largest Church, to be Romanian for example is to be Orthodox. Now that does not necessarily mean you will go to church every Sunday but you darken the door of the church now and again. So to be Romanian, Greek, Russian etc is to be Orthodox.
Here in the US we have this group of people who identify themselves as Orthodox but do not come to Church or if they do they do not participate in the Sacramental life of the Church. They consider themselves Orthodox but they do not hold to the teachings of the Church either the moral teachings or the practices of the Church i.e. fasting and Church attendance.
The question I have is how to we reach these folks? I have often said that we cannot hope to bring converts into the church if we cannot bring our own people to the church. A recent survey tells that there are about 1.5 million Orthodox in the US. This number comes from Church attendance and not from those on the rolls of the Church. I think if we used the number we have on our rolls it would be much higher maybe even double that amount. So how do we reach them?
This Advent season, the Roman Church has launched a program called Come Home, maybe we should do the same thing to bring our people home. But what about the ones we have that come to Church each and every Sunday but do not participate in the Sacramental Life of the Church? Coming from a Roman background it is hard for me to comprehend coming to church and not participating in the Sacraments. If we believe what we teach then we are missing out on Grace! I don’t know about you but I need all the Grace I can get!
I also think this ethnic Orthodox label leads to confusion among the people when we see politicians who are Orthodox but yet consistently vote in a very non Orthodox way. I believe the same thing happens in the Roman Church and all we need to do is look at the Tobin/Kennedy situation I have written about before. I will not go on about the absolute truths of the Orthodox Church and the fact that the church is not a buffet I have gone on about that before.
I have no answers to these questions but only wish to open a discussion about how we reach out. We Orthodox have the timeless truth but we cannot seem to get the message out. How can we do this effectively?
Came home stuffed like the bird we had polished off and went right to sleep. Slept in as today is a holiday as well. I am not one of those people that goes out shopping at 4am so I got to sleep in.
For the rest of the day I will be hold up reading and watching TV, two of my favorite things to do.
I am thankful for all of you who read these pages and I wish you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Regular blogging will return tomorrow.
I heard a very good explanation of the situation last night and I cannot remember where I heard it or read it. But, Bishop Tobin is not telling Representative Kennedy how to vote he is simply telling him what it means to be a Catholic. Rep. Kennedy can support all of the abortion bills he wants but he if chooses to do so he should refrain from Communion in the Catholic Church. Plain and simple.
Today in my blog reading I came across this article from the Catholic News Agency. Now before you write it off as propaganda, it is written by a non Catholic and sums things up well I think. The article speaks of the Separation of Church and State. That phrase and the concept does not not appear in the Constitution by the way. It is from Jefferson but was written in a letter during his Presidency. The author of the article states that the Establishment Clause was placed in the Constitution to protect the faith from coercion from the state not the other way around nor did it prohibit the church from enforcing it’s doctrine on it’s members even where matters of public policy are concerned.
So it continues…
I am so sick and tired of the PC police getting in the way. I believe it is the CHRISTMAS season and this church is being denied the right to have an outdoor Nativity because it is too close to town land. TIME FOR THE REVOLUTION!
Email the Town Manager Mr. Wayne Melville or call the members of the board of selectmen. I have provided their names and phone numbers below:
Susan W. Thorne, Chairman 978-526-1682
Mary Hardwick 978-526-4638
Lee B. Spence 978-526-7918
Bryan S. Gubbins 978-526-8956
Thomas P. Kehoe 978-526-4381
Time to take our country back!
MANCHESTER BY-THE-SEA, Mass. — Plans for a local church’s live Nativity scene have been left out in the cold by town leaders.
Every year, the First Parish Church in Manchester-by-the-Sea works to bring Christmas to life. This year, they planned to take that to the next level by creating a live Nativity scene. The church selected people to play Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.
The problem, however, is that the church is located very close to public property. The town denied permission to members of the First Parish Church to go ahead with the scene they wanted to stage on Christmas Eve.
Read the Rest Here