I Have a Dream

Posted on by Fr. Peter
So I have been thinking of this for quite some time. I believe that we need to spread the word of Orthodoxy any way that we can. I believe that the folks at Ancient Faith Radio and the Orthodox Christian Network are doing great work with the internet. I think the time has come for the Orthodox world to move into traditional radio and maybe even to satellite radio. I have a dream for a small start with a small radio station that would run good orthodox and other Christian radio programs and maybe some other stuff to pay the bills. I believe that this can be done rather inexpensively and with volunteer help. Hey the Evangelicals are doing it why can’t we.

Let’s pray about this and see what comes of it. I am on to a few possibilities.

The Greatest of These is Love

Posted on by Fr. Peter
In the past I have written about the subjects of faith and of hope now we turn to the Theological Virtue of Love. Love is one the hardest and most misunderstood words in the English language. Love is a word that is the prime example of how deficient the English Language really is. In English we have one word for all the forms of love and in Greek for example there are many. How can we use the same word for how we feel about ice cream and about our spouse or our children? But we love lice cream and we love our children, there it is.

Our entire existence on this world from a Christian perspective is to commune with God and this communion is possible through love. If love does not exist then God does not exist and there can be no spiritual life. Where love resides there God is and all righteousness. The love of human beings has it’s origin in God. We are to love one another and we are to love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul. Why is this true? Because God first loved us. “For God so loved the world that he sent His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16)

The 4th Century spiritual father Macarius of Egypt tells his spiritual children that the aim of life as the “acquisition of the Holy Spirit” is expressed most perfectly in Love. The Holy Spirit himself is identified with God’s love by the saints. St. Simeon the New Theologian writes, “O Holy Love, – i.e., the Holy Spirit of God – he who knows you not has never tasted the sweetness of your mercies which only living experience can give us. But he who has known you, or who has been known by you, can never have even the smallest doubt. So God who is love enters into the union with humanity through the Son of His love by the Spirit.”

Let us look at three types of love in Scripture. Agape is love as the action of perfect goodness for the sake of the other. This is the most basic of all the meanings of love, to do everything that we possible can for the sake and well-being of the other. This is the type of love that God has when we say that God is love. This is the love that we as spiritual beings must have first and foremost.

Eros is love for the sake of union with the other. Erotic love, not sinful erotic love, but love free from the sinful passions. The pure desire for communication with the other, including of course God. This is the love that should exist between God and his creation as the pattern for the erotic love in the world between husband and wife.

Friendship or phila is the love that should exist between God and humanity. We have no greater friend that God and God’s wishes to be the friend of all of humanity. The very purpose of coming to know Christ was to destroy the “enmity” between humanity and God and to restore the co-working relationship that existed in the Garden. “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (Exodus 33:11) “Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends; for all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you.” (John 15:13-15)

So we have seen love as goodness, love as union and love as friendship. These are all to be found in relationship between God and humanity and the relationship between human beings. We need the spiritual life in order for there to exist these forms of true love. Because these forms of love all exist in the spiritual life and the spiritual life is a life rooted in God.

Bartholomew: search for unity between Orthodox and Catholics “a duty”

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Istanbul (AsiaNews) – The homilies for the services and celebrations for the patron of Constantinople, St. Andrew, were centered on the certainty that the common journey toward full unity between the two sister Churches – Catholic and Orthodox – is the only answer, including to the challenges of today’s world in full economic, political, and social crisis.

The celebrations were attended by a large delegation from the Church of Rome, led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the council for Christian unity, representatives of the other Christian confessions, the diplomatic corps, and various authorities.

Ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew began his homily by recalling the historic meeting in Jerusalem in 1964, between Paul VI and Athenagoras, which put an end to the historic and distasteful schism of 1054 between the two sister Churches, initiating a dialogue of love and truth in full and mutual respect, with the objective of reestablishing full communion. And precisely in order to highlight this journey toward full communion, Bartholomew gave the example of the two brothers “in the flesh,” Andrew and Peter, who later became spiritual brothers in Christ, to emphasize the role that the two sister Churches must play. Although the two brothers Peter and Andrew followed different geographical paths to testify to the truth of Christ our Lord – the former sanctified the Church of Rome with his own blood, while the latter founded the Church of Byzantium, which later became Constantinople – they have remained united in the course of history through the two Churches: Rome and Constantinople.

This connection between the two apostles, Bartholomew continued, the beginning of which was biological in nature, later became a spiritual bond in the name of our Lord, and ended up constituting the bond that unites the Churches. And this bond must always be kept in mind,
continued the ecumenical patriarch, in order to restore full unity. Because today, by honoring the apostle Andrew, one also honors the apostle Peter – it is not possible to think of Peter and Andrew separately. The thorns must therefore be removed which for a millennium have wounded relations between the two Churches, and guidance toward unity must be taken from the spirit of the common tradition of the seven ecumenical councils of the first millennium. And all of this is not only out of respect for our two apostles, Bartholomew concluded, but also because it is our duty toward the contemporary world, which is going through a tremendous
sociopolitical, cultural, and economic crisis. A world that has urgent need of the message of peace, of which the founder of our Church, Jesus Christ, is the messenger, through his cross and
resurrection. Only then will the word of our Church be credible, when it can also give a message of peace and love: “Come and see” (John 1:47).

Cardinal Kasper, as the pope’s representative, also focused in his homily on the importance of dialogue for full unity between the Churches, saying that the same feast is celebrated today in Rome, a sign of our common apostolic heritage, which requires us to work for full communion. Because this ecumenical commitment is not an option, but a duty toward our Lord, in order to be able to consider ourselves an essential part of the Church of Christ, our Lord.

Kasper then cited the three visits of the ecumenical patriarch to Rome in 2008, which included his participation, together with Pope Benedict, in the inauguration of the Pauline year, and his address to the synod of Catholic bishops, also at the invitation of the pope. This reinforced the bonds between Rome and Constantinople. He concluded by speaking of the importance of the document of Ravenna (2007) in the dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox.

Finally, in a conversation with AsiaNews, Cardinal Kasper maintained that the journey with the Orthodox, although it will certainly not be short, has started on the right path, “in part because we have many, many things in common with the Orthodox.” Moreover, Kasper continued, the fact that Constantinople has a very broad vision helps a great deal in the journey of dialogue toward full communion.

Pope’s Message to Bartholomew I

Posted on by Fr. Peter
“Relations Between Us Are Entering Progressively Deeper Levels”

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of the message Benedict XVI sent to Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I for the feast of St. Andrew, which is today.

The message was delivered by a Vatican delegation sent to visit the ecumenical patriarch of
Constantinople for the occasion. The president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper and Bishop Brian Farrell, respectively, were
accompanied by Domincan Father Vladimiro Caroli, of the council, and Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, the apostolic nuncio in Ankara.

* * *

“Grace to you and peace from God the Father”‘ (Gal 1: 3)

It is with deep joy that I address these words of Saint Paul to Your Holiness, the Holy Synod and all the Orthodox clergy and lay people assembled for the feast of Saint Andrew, the brother of
Saint Peter and, like him, a great apostle and martyr for Christ. I am pleased to be represented
on This festal occasion by a delegation led by my venerable brother Cardinal Walter Kasper,
President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, to whom I am entrusting this
message of greetings. My own prayers join with yours as we plead with the Lord for the well-being and unity of the followers of Christ throughout the world.

I give thanks to God that he has enabled us to deepen the bonds of mutual love between us,
supported by prayer and ever more regular fraternal contact. In the course of the year that is now drawing to a close, we have been blessed three times by the presence of Your Holiness in
Rome: on the occasion of your magisterial address at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, which is
honoured to number you among its alumni; at the opening of the Pauline Year on the feast of
Rome’s patron saints, Peter and Paul; and at the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, held in October on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, when you delivered a most thoughtful address.

As a sign of our growing communion and spiritual closeness, the Catholic Church for her part was represented at the celebrations of the Pauline Year overseen by Your Holiness, including a
symposium and a pilgrimage to the Pauline sites in Asia Minor. These experiences of encounter and shared prayer contribute to an increase in our commitment to attain the goal of our ecumenical journey.

In this same spirit, Your Holiness has informed me of the positive outcome of the Synaxis of the
Primates and Representatives of the Orthodox Churches, which took place recently at the
Phanar. The hopeful signs which emerged for inter-Orthodox relations and ecumenical engagement have been welcomed with joy. I believe and pray that these developments will have a constructive impact on the official theological dialogue between the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church, and will lead to a resolution of the difficulties experienced in the last two
sessions. As Your Holiness remarked during your address to the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and
Orthodox is now addressing a crucial issue which, once resolved, would draw us closer to full communion.

On this feast of Saint Andrew, we reflect with joy and thanksgiving that the relations between
us are entering progressively deeper levels as we renew our commitment to the path of prayer and dialogue. We trust that our common journey will hasten the arrival of that blessed day when we will praise God together in a shared celebration of the Eucharist. The inner life of our Churches and the challenges of our modem world urgently demand this witness of unity among Christ’s disciples.

It is with these brotherly sentiments that I extend to Your Holiness my cordial greetings in the Lord, who assures us of his grace and peace.

From the Vatican, 26 November 2008

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

Shepherd of Souls 38

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Shepherd of Souls episode 38 is now online. In this episode we explore the question do Orthodox Christians worship the Virgin Mary.
Remember you can subscribe to the podcast from iTunes by clicking the link on the webpage.

St. Andrew’s Day: From Middle East to Scottish highland

Posted on by Fr. Peter
by Gül Demir and Niki Gamm
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/lifestyle/10465048.asp?scr=1

ISTANBUL – In Istanbul an ecclesiastical ceremony will take place Sunday at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Fener and the president of the World Council of Churches Cardinal Walter Casper will attend. The Pope was present at the ceremony that took place in November 2006.

Are you Scottish, Greek, Romanian or Russian? Then you’ll know that Sunday is St. Andrew’s Day as he is the patron saint of Scotland, Greece, Romania and Russia.

The Apostle Andrew is said to have founded the Christian Church in Bithynia which was located in the area of today’s Bursa and İznik. He is supposed to have gone further north into Thrace and then crossed the Black Sea. According to Greek tradition, Andrew landed on the shore outside Constantinople in the place where Fındıklı is today. There he is said to have built a prayer chapel but there’s no sign of such a structure today.

According to Byzantine tradition, St. Andrew was one of the first apostles called to the Bithynia, Byzantium area and he is associated with the claim that the See of Byzantium was apostolic in origin. In fact St. Andrew is acknowledged to have been the founder of the Greek Orthodox Church in Constantinople and he later went on in 44 AD to found the Georgian Orthodox Church.

According to biblical sources, Andrew was the elder brother of Simon Peter and the first man to have become an apostle or follower of Christ. Both were fishermen until they were converted to Christianity by Jesus Christ. Andrew embarked on a missionary journey after Christ’s death and spread the Christian religion throughout Anatolia and Greece. One tradition says the Romans crucified him in Patras, Greece. He was hammered to a cross of diagonal shape and this is supposed to have been the shape of the Cross of St. Andrew that appears on the Scottish flag. His brother Peter is considered the founder of the Papacy in Rome.

The saint’s bones were laid to rest in Patras but the Emperor Constantine wanted to have them moved to his new capital, New Rome or Constantinople, some 300 years later. The legend goes that a Greek monk or possibly an Irish monk saw in a dream that St. Andrew’s bones were to be moved and he was told by an angel that he should take whatever he could from the skeleton to the “ends of the earth.”

In those days The Scottish Isles were about as far as anyone had any knowledge in those days so he took a few of the bones (a tooth, an arm bone, a kneecap and some fingers) and went there and if he needed any persuasion that he had reached the right place, his ship was wrecked there.

St. Andrew closest to Scotland
It is with Scotland that St. Andrew has been most closely associated even to the point of November 30th being proclaimed a holiday. While we know St. Andrews, Scotland as the center of great golfing and the home of an outstanding university, it is less known as the repository of some of the relics or bones of St. Andrew. The cathedral was built in the 12th century but fell into disuse following the Reformation in the 16th century. Today it lies in well-preserved ruins and the relics have disappeared and probably were destroyed during the Scottish Reformation when the Catholic Church was rejected.

It was after Robert the Bruce’s famous victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 that St Andrew was officially named patron saint of Scotland and the diagonal cross became the national flag of Scotland in 1385. The flag is in the form of a white X on a blue background and is commonly known as The Saltire.

Crusader sack of Constantinople in 1204
The Crusaders who attacked and sacked Constantinople in 1204 probably stole what remained of St. Andrew’s body according to one story or only his skull according to another. They / it ended up in Amalfi, Italy and are still there today. There is however a silver box in a church in Patras, Greece that is supposed to hold the skull of St. Andrew. It’s really amazing how many bones can be attributed to one person.

In 1879 the Archbishop of Amalfi sent a small piece of the Saint’s shoulder blade to the re-established Roman Catholic community in Scotland and in 1969, Pope Paul VI gave the person appointed to be the first Scottish Cardinal since the Reformation more of St. Andrew’s remains. He is supposed to have accompanied the gift with the words, “Saint Peter gives you his brother.” The Roman Catholic Pope is supposed to be in a direct line from Peter. These relics are in St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland.

St. Andrew’s Day is a day to celebrate Scottish culture, food and dance and festivities are planned every year. It also marks the start of Scotland’s winter festivals. Would St. Andrew have been pleased? Unfortunately we don’t know enough about Andrew as a person but we hope he would have had a good time.

Here in Istanbul an ecclesiastical ceremony will take place Sunday at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Fener and the president of the World Council of Curches Cardinal Walter Casper will attend. The Pope was present at the ceremony that took place in November 2006.

Mumbai Christian leader speaks of ‘real panic’ after attacks

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Bangalore, India (ENI). The National Council of Churches in India plus global church leaders have condemned the coordinated attacks in Mumbai, which have left more than 140 people dead. The Indian council on 27 November urged action to defeat “all forces and all forms of terrorism in India”. Indian officials blamed an Islamic extremist group for the attack. The National Council of Churches in India groups 30 Orthodox and Protestant churches. It issued its statement after gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades targeted at least seven sites in Mumbai late on 26 November, and stormed two luxury hotels. “There is real panic here and the people have been stunned by the viciousness of the attack,” said Metropolitan Geevarghese mar Coorilos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.

Death at Wal-Mart

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I read this story yesterday and could not believe what I was reading but then again I could. The story of the worker at Wal-Mart being trampled to death is just another sign that we have gone crazy out of control with consumerism in this country. If you read the story you will see that these bargain hunters took the doors off the store to get in and also trampled a pregnant woman. I also think the unbelievable thing is that they did not close the store, people kept right on shopping. Rod Dreher got it right with the title of his post on this subject, What sick, wicked culture produced such people?

A few of my fellow bloggers have posts of note on this subject and I will link to those below please do give them a read. Take a moment and think about this and our part in it. Think about how we will change this year and try and make the world a different place.

In Memory of the Trampled Wal-Mart Worker: A Contemplative Rant by Carl McColm

What sick, wicked culture produced such people? by Rod Dreher

Black Friday

Posted on by Fr. Peter
It is 7:30am and the stores have been open since 4:30am so I am sure that many people have fallen into the trap of buying more junk then they can afford. If we have learned nothing from all of this economic stuff going on perhaps this year we can just celebrate a simple Christmas and not put ourselves in hock up to our eyebrows. Some folks are calling this make something day. Nothing is more personal then a gift that you make yourself. I can remember every year growing up we used to get a hat and scarf and some mittens from my grandmother. She worked all year on these gifts and they came from her heart. They were so warm and every time we wore them it reminded us of her. This year let’s think about what we are buying and perhaps make something for those in our lives. Maybe even buy a gift or someone who has nothing, there will be a lot of that going around this year.

H/T to Seven Whole Days for the Picture

New Blog

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Okay it is time to let you in on a little secret. One week from today I launch my new radio program called Father Peter Live! The show will air on WESO 970am from Southbridge and will run from 12-1pm on Thursdays. We are going to start with one day a week and see where it goes from there.

The format will be simple, call me and we chat. I am passionate about people getting their life back on track and I want to help you to do this. I believe that we need to be physically, spiritually, and emotionally well in order to be in balance. I want to help you do this. So what are we going to do? Well we are going to start with some tips on how to make the holiday season stress free! Then move on to weight loss and money management oh ya and little spirituality thrown in for good measure.

If you live in the Southbridge area tune in to 970am if not I just might be able to stream the show live on youtube or something stay tuned for that.

I have started a new blog for the show right now available here.

error: Content is protected !!