Dissent ~ A Commentary

Posted on by Fr. Peter
In the ramp up to the vote in the House of Representatives on the Health Care bill this past weekend, there has been a very public dispute between the Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence, Rhode Island and the Congressman from that State Patrick Kennedy. Bishop Tobin, no stranger to public statements, has said that Kennedy is long longer a Catholic because he has strayed to far from the pack. (Those are my words not the good bishops).

So my question is how far can we go from church teaching before we stray from the pack? I don’t think we need to argue the point that the Roman Catholic Church is pro life. I know the argument that 60% of Catholics in the US support abortion rights. However, what people need to realize is that churches, well churches worth their salt, do not run polls on theology or moral positions. The Church hold that life begins at conception therefore an abortion is killing and dimming the Divine Spark that God has placed in the soul of the unborn child. I guess we could argue about abortion in the case of the life of the mother or in the case of incest or rape but in the US we are using abortion as a form of contraception. Now I am straying too far from the pack.

The Orthodox Church, like the Roman Church, has a certain set of beliefs. I hold the position that one must believe it all to be part of the group. You cannot, for example, not believe in the real presence of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the elements of communion and remain an Orthodox Christian. Social and moral issues can be a little tricky. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church the Orthodox Church does not have a magisterium or teaching office. Each bishop or synod of bishops can set it’s own policy and there really is no such thing as an official teaching of the Orthodox Church. Different bishops say different things or more often then not remain silent on the issues.

As an example, Orthodox Bishops for the most part, have been silent on the entire health care debate as well as other issues. The Bishops organization here in America is silent on many issues unless of course they involve the way people are treated in the homeland.

So when do we stray from the pack? The Church has rules that I believe are absolute and if you want to be part of that church then you have to believe what the church teaches or you find yourself on the outside looking in. I believe that we do not have the luxury of choosing what part of the faith we wish to believe and what parts we wish to ignore. We should not water down our faith to make us politically correct. Faith groups that have watered down their faith have become fractured and are going the way of the Dodo and will soon be extinct. Again, I believe that people need and want guidance and the guidance needs to be absolute not wishy washy.

The argument goes that we have a separation of church and state in this country. Agreed we do, but if you think that means the church cannot speak up on social issues then you need to go back to school. Actually it is called the Establishment Clause and it says that the government cannot establish a state religion, like they had in England. It does not say we cannot speak. I submit we have a duty to speak up when we see an injustice and we need to teach our people what the church teaches on certain issues. I will also submit that if you don’t like what your church teaches then maybe it is time to move on to another church, or like so many have done, start your own.

Asking questions is good, search for answers to difficult question is welcome. But we do not run the church on focus groups or polls. Church teaching is Church teaching. Take it or leave it.

Blog Reposting ~ Some Tips

Posted on by Fr. Peter
In writing a blog post, often we see, even in our favorite blogs, that the author has reposted, linked to, reported on and/or commented on something they have seen on the Internet, television, heard on the radio, or read in a book, magazine or newspaper.

A news story, an opinion piece, an excellent essay, a pensive reflection, a timely article: all these make excellent blog entries. It is a snap to rewrite the title, provide a link to the original story and offer some thoughtful commentary on your blog.

The Rest of the Story

Blogaversary

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Okay I don’t really think that is a word but on this day in 2005 this blog came to life. I made the first post but it was months latter until I made the second post but it has been off to the races since then.
1,336 posts with almost 50,000 visits. We have covered many topics on this blog with some controversy but to me it is all about learning from each other. So keep it up.

Thanks for making this blog what it is today.

U.S. Greek Orthodox bishops might get Turkish citizenship

Posted on by Fr. Peter

(AOI) – Theodore Kalmoukos of the National Herald is reporting that “the government of Turkey seems to be willing to grant Turkish citizenship to all those hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate who serve outside of Turkey. Turkish citizenship will allow them to freely participate in all the administrative activities of the Patriarchate including the right … ” [to serve as Ecumenical Patriarch].

Watch AOI today for more on this developing story …

H/T to Byzantine Texas

Orthodoxy 101 On-Line Class

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Favorable Response to Orthodoxy 101 On-Line Class Offering

JOHNSTOWN, PA — The Diocesan Apostolate For Christian Education is pleased to report that there has been a favorable response to the announcement of a seven-week on-line introductory class on Orthodox Christianity, Orthodoxy 101, which will begin next Monday, November 16, 2009.

At the time of press, more than 40 people have registered for the on-line class, approximately half of which are either non- Orthodox Christian inquirers, or newly received converts to the faith. The participants are from 10 states in the U.S, and there are two international students, from the UK and South America.

The class, led by Fr. Peter Paproski, will be broadcast live each week from St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Stratford Connecticut. The class will begin at 7:00 pm and will last approximately 90 minutes.. Those faithful living in the greater Bridgeport, Connecticut region are cordially invited to attend the class in person.

Topics to be discussed will include, Salvation History, Holy Tradition, Church History, Doctrine and Dogma, Prayer, Ethics and Morality and discovering one’s vocation in life. Time will be allowed at the end of each session for a question and answer period based on questions raised in person or via email Audio recordings of each session will be archived for later study.

There is no charge for participating, however, those who wish to participate must register on-line to enter the class room and access the broadcast link. Audio recordings of each session will be archived for later study.

There is still time to register. Won’t YOU join our class?

For more information and to register, please click here.

Hatred

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I have posted on this topic before but now we see it on the evening news. Last week all we witnessed that tragic shootings at Ft. Hood, Texas. We are all asking question like how could a soldier shoot other soldiers? Who knew what and when? and questions like that. There has been much speculation about connections with this or that group and I am sure there are details that we do not know now or will we know in the future. Speculation is what the media both liberal and conservative by the way, and we do not need to be involved in that.

The problem is, when someone like this nut at Ft. Hood does something like this we immediately jump to conclusions because he has a Muslim sounding name. I will not make excuses for this person that is not my job but we tend to want to hate someone when something like this happens. We need to make sense out of the entire situation so it is easy to just say, he is a crazy Muslim terrorist. It is only natural for us to want to blame someone to something to make sense out of events such as this. Was this man a terrorist? I would say yes, not because he was a Muslim but because of this actions. He caused terror that makes him a terrorist. Shortly after that event there was a similar event in Orlando Florida. Another man went crazy at his prior place of employment. Of course religion did not play any role in his actions because he did not have a Muslim sounding name so it was not even asked. But this man was a terrorist just like the man at Ft. Hood. If you cause terror you are a terrorist regardless of religion.

Now back to hate. Yesterday there was an article in the news about a USMC Reservist who beat an Orthodox Priest with a tire iron because he thought the man was a Muslim. Okay bad enough that one person would beat another person with a tire iron but to use the excuse that the guy was a Muslim. This is what happens when we jump to conclusions that the man who did the shootings at Ft. Hood is a Muslim. I would call this Marine a terrorist as well.

Hatred under any banner is bad. Hatred does not come from the God of Love hatred comes from the other Guy, the spirit of hate. I understand people are frustrated and I understand the level of hatred but I do not condone it.

An update to yesterday’s story of the Marine now it seems the Marine as sexually assaulted by this Orthodox Priest and that is why he whacked him with the tire iron. When will it end?

St. Triduana

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Scotland’s Saint of the day.
Triduana is believed to have arrived in Scotland in the early Middle Ages as one of the companions of St Regulus, who bore the relics of St Andrew to the country that would adopt the apostle as their patron saint.
Legend tells how the pious Triduana was fierce in her rejection of the advances made by a Pictish Chieftain, Nechtan. His desire for the woman was great, and he proclaimed that her eyes were the most beautiful he had ever seen. The zealous Triduana heard this and proceeded to gouge out those lovely eyes and sent them to Nechtan on a thorn branch. What need had she for such organs?
Her devotion to her God continued unaffected, and she was free of the unwanted lusts of others. If Nechtan liked them so much, then he could have them. A religious site dedicated to Triduana developed at Restalrig, east of Edinburgh and the saint became closely associated with healing, particularly with the healing of eye defects. By the later Middle Ages the shrine was one of the most pre-eminent in Scotland. Pilgrims visited to bathe their eyes in the waters of the sacred place and hopefully benefit from their restorative powers. The well-house was restored in 1906. A stained glass window of St Triduana features in St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney.

85 Years of Ministry

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Yesterday my parish celebrated her patronal feast day. We also celebrated 85 years of ministry here in Southbridge. 85 years ago a group of faithful people from Eastern Europe came to Southbridge in search of a better life for them and their children. One of the first things they did was to establish a church community and bring in a priest.

I remember years ago whilst I was in the Army and my unit was preparing for a deployment to Bosnia. An Army intelligence officer came to give us a briefing and during the briefing he said how shocked he was that the people in Bosnia would build a church before they would rebuild their houses or schools or hospitals. He did not get it. Faith is important to people.

Southbridge is much different today than it was 85 years ago. American Optical is gone and will not be back. Most of the neighborhood around the church is no longer Romanian, Albanian, and Greek it is mostly Hispanic now. Most of the parishioners live our of town and cannot walk to church. But the Church is still here.

Yesterday we celebrated the Divine Liturgy with our friends from St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church here in Town. A few years back we decided to close our churches on each others feast days and worship together. We will do the same on December 6th. It was such a blessing to have a church filled to capacity with people. All worshiping together and remembering. Remembering those who came before us and sacrificed to build their church.

During the sermon I asked what the legacy would be that we would leave to those who come after us? I don’t have the answer as I am only here for a short time. There have been many before me and please God many after me. I feel blessed and honored to be their pastor and although I do not tell them that often enough it is true. We have had our moments, and what relationship has not, but I am truly blessed. Blessed with great people but also blessed to be serving God in this Community.

After Liturgy we had our annual banquet in the parish hall. What a great day! We had a presentation from IOCC linking us to the greater Orthodox Church and I was pleased to see people using the envelopes that were in the tables to make a donation, of whatever they could afford, to this great work of our American Orthodox Church.

When everyone had left, and I was walking around shutting off all the lights and turning the heat down I had a moment to reflect. I came into our museum and stood in front of the picture of the founding families of our church. I thanked them and asked them to pray for us. They did they hard work, the built the church, the buildings and the community. They left it in our care.

What is the legacy we will leave to those who come after us?

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