Kennedy and Tobin it Continues!

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I have been writing about this all week and the story remains in the news. The thing I find most amazing about all of this is the spin that is being placed on all of this.

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…

Town denies permission for live Nativity scene

Posted on by Fr. Peter

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

Morals and the Public Square

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Bishop Tobin Representative Kennedy battle continues and I think it is good that we are having this discussion. Fr. Z points us to a poll on U.S. New and World Report about the topic of Catholic Politicians and Communion. Not that the church runs on polls I find it very interesting that in all of the polls I have seen most are voting in favor of a ban of some kind.

Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus has written an essay for Zenit entitled Bringing Morals to the Public Square. I have mentioned in these pages before that I believe we have a mandate to bring this country back to the morals that founded upon. We as Christians, have an obligation to preach and teach the truth in love. The Orthodox Church, like the Roman Catholic Church, has absolute positions on moral issues around life. We believe that life is sacred from conception to its natural end and therefore needs to be protected. Anyone that would support abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, etc find themselves outside the church and therefore are not eligible for Communion with the church.

Some asked yesterday about trying to bring people back to the fold. Yes that is our job as well. We need to do whatever we can to bring people back and excommunication should be a last resort. As we have seen the Tobin/Kennedy very public debate on this that Bishop Tobin has tried to bring Rep. Kennedy back to the fold. He has done this in a very pastoral and private way. It was Rep. Kennedy who went public with Bishop Tobin’s letter asking him to refrain from Communion. Note that he was asked to refrain from Communion and was not banned as some in the media would like you to believe.

My good friend Fr. Huw posted today on his blog the following:

THE LEFT Is coming back to Reality-based cynicism in the area of Bushbama. IT’s nice and all, but no politician can provide meaningful hope if the hope is for meaningless, worldly ideas.
Advent continues… there is a real hope.

He is exactly right. Hope does not come from government programs and hand outs. hope will not come any politician I don’t care what side you are on, government cannot bring that hope. Hope comes from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! That is the only place we find our hope! Turn to him and repent, cling to the cross and you will find your hope.

Sunday Recap

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Well after a Saturday that was busier than I have had in a long time Sunday was a great day! Liturgy was packed and we had some new faces as well. One of the people that came to our meal on Thursday came to Liturgy on Sunday and it was nice to see him. We also had some new folks join us from Rhode Island.

but the big news came at the end of Liturgy. Our cantor and my friend Vasile is to be ordained a deacon on Sunday, December 6th. This has been coming for sometime and we are all very happy for him as he embarks on ministry. I am happy I was able to play a part in his life in ministry.

We wish him well and we will miss him.

Star Trek Movie

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I just finished watching the latest of the Star Trek Movies. I did not get to see it in the theaters and now I am sorry I was not able to see it on the big screen. If you have not seen this movie you need to it is awesome. Even if you are not a fan of the genre you will like this movie.

21 November ~ The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

Posted on by Fr. Peter
According to the tradition of the Church, the Theotokos was brought to the Temple at three years of age, where she was consecrated to God and spent her days until she was fourteen or fifteen years old; and then, as a mature maiden, by the common counsel of the priests (since her parents had reposed some three years before), she was betrothed to Joseph.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

Today is the prelude of God’s pleasure and the proclamation of man’s salvation. The Virgin is clearly made manifest in the temple of God and foretells Christ to all. Let us also cry out to her with mighty voice, “Hail, fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.”

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Today, the most pure temple of the Savior, the precious bridal chamber and Virgin, the sacred treasure of God, enters the house of the Lord, bringing the grace of the Divine Spirit. The Angels of God praise her. She is the heavenly tabernacle.

From www.goarch.org

Online Church

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Fr. Z has an interesting conversation going on his blog about online church. I am a big supporter of online stuff and think the Church needs to use the technology to reach out. We used to stream our services from here and then the wireless got all hinky on me so I was not doing it as much. I am thinking about going back to it.

Community is important and I don’t think you can be a Christian and not be in a worshiping community but what if you cannot get to a church service. What about our men and women in the military. There are only 8 Orthodox priests presently serving in the Army and that includes active, reserve, and National Guard. Only 2 serve on active duty. So how to we reach them. We can use the internet and stream our liturgies. It is not hard and we will reach people. Let people know you are doing it and they will tune in.

This does not replace the real thing, but if you cannot get there then at least you have something.

Police State

Posted on by Fr. Peter
This morning I was reading the local paper, not usually anything worth reading in there, but I came across this story that really got me going, all this before my first cup of coffee!

It would seem that in Templeton, Massachusetts a man has decided to build a small shack if you will on land he says no one owns. He had gone to the proper authorities and researched the land and it appears that no one owns the land. The police chief says the Town owns the land and he has to leave.

I am not a lawyer but how can you trespass on public land isn’t that what public means in public land? He is building his dwelling at 119 square feet because anything over that would require a building permit. So they have given him until Tuesday to move or he will be forced out and his home torn down. I did not know we lived in a police state. Happy Thanksgiving from the Town of Templeton.

I have just sent an email to the police chief and told him that this was not right. If you feel the same way you should email him. policechief@templeton1.org

I respect the police and I understand the hard job they have to do but in this case I think they can come to some kind of solution short of forcing this guy out. The Economy is difficult for everyone and this guy is just trying to survive.

The Manhattan Declaration

Posted on by Fr. Peter
A declaration signed by Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant leaders released a document today affirming the traditional Christian teachings on abortion, same sex marriage, and religious freedom. It pledges not to cooperate with the government on any of these issues.

Met. Jonah of the OCA has once again show his leadership on these issue and was the highest ranking Orthodox Bishop to sign the declaration.

Other Orthodox signatories

His Grace, The Right Reverend Bishop Basil Essey The Right Reverend Bishop of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America (Wichita, KS)

Fr. Chad Hatfield Chancellor, CEO. And Archpriest, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (Yonkers, NY)

Fr. Johannes L. Jacobse President, American Orthodox Institute and Editor, OrthodoxyToday.org (Naples, FL)

Fr. Patrick Reardon Pastor, All Saints’ Antiochian Orthodox Church (Chicago, IL)

Alexander F. C. Webster Archpriest, Orthodox Church in America and Associate Professorial Lecturer, The George Washington University (Ft. Belvoir, VA)

Please read to the entire document here

h/t AOI Blog

Monastery

Posted on by Fr. Peter
For some years now I have been praying about a monastic foundation here in Central Massachusetts. Before my conversion to Holy Orthodoxy I was a professed member of Our Lady of Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham, Massachusetts a Benedictine Community.

A few weeks back I had lunch with Fr. Ken from Emmanuel Orthodox Church in Warren, Massachusetts and I shared with him my desire to bring monasticism here. We chatted for some time and then we discovered a wonder piece of land that might be available. So we have been praying and writing and working on a plan to bring a monastery here to Central Massachusetts.

The patron of this Monastery is St. Columba of Iona. We choose St. Columba because of his missionary zeal and because he was the founder of a great monastery on the Isle of Iona of the coast of Scotland. Part of this monastic foundation will be a school if you will or a Center of Church Growth and Evangelism. We hope to train clergy and lay people on how to grow and plant churches and we intend to found mission parishes all over New England.

Although we do not have the property yet we have established a website with out vision and we are looking for folks to partner with us either as monastics or prayer partners. We are also looking for some financial help.

If you are interested in exploring the monastic life email me or leave some feedback here and I will get back to you as well as if you wish to partner with us in prayer or financial help. you may view the monastery website here.

We do have a vision and mission document that I would be happy to send you if you wish just email me from this link.

error: Content is protected !!