Gentlemen

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Last night I watched Barack Obama give his acceptance speech in Colorado. Next week I will watch John McCain do the same thing. From an oratory prospective I think he did a good job. He did lay out some of his vision but we need to understand that he will not reveal all. Remember the George Bush Read My Lips thing. It was also not as what’s the word I am looking for, flashy as I thought it was going to be. Now, I have not listened to any of the so called spin doctors or the fair and balanced people, I am Self-Ruled, and make up my own mind. If you search around the internet you can find the speech and read it for yourself without anyone else telling you what it said.

I thought it was nice that Obama thanked McCain for his service and really did not slam him as I thought he was going to do. And when it was all over McCain released an ad congratulating him. WOW! Maybe we are going to see a civil campaign season ahead of us. That would be nice.

We have a big decision to make in November and one that we need to study and think about. I will say this again. Read the words of the candidates and not what someone else says they said. Make up your own mind and do not let anyone who is fair and balanced or not make it up for you. It only takes a few minutes to read their own words.

I will put links on the side bar to both candidates official webpages and make it easy for you to find them. So surf on over there and read for yourself.

So now we wait for the big announcement today on who McCain is going to pick as his VP. I hope he makes a choice not so much to help him win but one that will help him govern. The other thing we need keep in mind no matter who wins in November he will be President and we need to support him and give him a chance. Remember they are only human and they, like us, are flawed and will make mistakes.

Obama

Posted on by Fr. Peter
You may not like his politics but I could not help but get a tear in my eye when Sen. Obama was nominated by the democrat party yesterday. The camera panned around the room to all of the people of color and they were very emotional. You know it was not that long ago that someone like Sen. Obama could not drink from the same water fountain as I could. America we have come a long way! Not matter what happens in November we have made history.

Last Few Days

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The last few days have been busier than normal around here. It seems that things run in a cycle and I am in the busy one right now. Meetings, small trips, writing and the like have all seemed to come together to steal my time away.

Today I have a follow up doctors appointment and then a meeting. The afternoon looks a little free so maybe I can sneak outside again and read as I did yesterday. I also need to get some work done in the church that needs to be done before the weekend. And I need a haircut! So we shall see what happens.

New Orleans

Posted on by Fr. Peter
As we approach the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Friday it seem wild that another hurricane is on its way to the area. Let us remember the people of the Gulf Coast on our prayers this weekend as they prepare for what could be another devastation. Let us also remember those who are still trying to clean up from Katrina.

The Waushakum Live Steamers

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of attending a one of a kind event. The Waushakum Live Steamers meet in Holliston, Massachusetts.

These guys, and gals, have built to scale steam engines that you ride on! It was fantastic! Check out their website for pictures of what they do.

I was invited by Fr. Jay Finelli, aka the iPadre and I am glad I made the trip. I took Onchu with me and we rode the trains.

Nice relaxing days!

Church 2.0

Posted on by Fr. Peter
If you are reading this post then you have some idea of what Church 2.0 is all about. This is the concept of the church using what has been called the new media, blogs, podcasts, etc. Any internet search will bring many examples of this including this blog. My question is this, why is it that the orthodox church has taken part in this new media?

Okay we have the Orthodox Christian Network and Ancient Faith Radio and some priests do have blogs, but I do not believe that one of our bishops has any sort of out reach at all into the internet and this needs to change! Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston was the first blogging cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church and if he can do it, as busy as he is, then our bishops can find time to do. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t picture Cardinal Sean blogging away as I am now but he ha someone who publishes his posts for him.

The generation coming of age right now is called the wired generation. We need to be able to reach them and the best format is to use the internet as they all do. I am surprised at the number of Orthodox Parishes that do not even have web pages! As Fr. Vasiliy Vasileivich, contributor to the Onion Dome would say, IS OUTRAGE!

I have said this before and I will say it again and again, if we are to be relevant we need to be relevant! Our clergy are not that busy that they cannot find time to post their homilies. For $125 one can purchase a recording device and record your homilies and post them on iTunes or on the web. We are loosing and need to regain ground that we have lost. This is not hard stuff!

All of the jurisdictions have website and each should have links to their parishes websites. If the parish does not have a website, the diocese should create one with nothing more than a picture of the church, the priests name, and service times so, God forbid, people might be able to find us!

Website design is very simple. I am sure there are teens in the church that could teach us. Reach out into your community and find someone who can do it for you. There are also the social networking sites like Facebook, twitter, plurk, ping and the like. These can be used for ministry purposes and they are FREE, an orthodox dream!

The church needs to use whatever tools it can to reach the generation that will be the leaders in the church. We need to keep them coming and keep them interested and involved. Yes it takes work but it needs to be done. Come on and admit it we are not that busy. We like to think we are but we have five minutes a day to post something like this. Okay it has taken me 10 because I ramble on.

Just do it!

Here I am

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Well almost a week has gone by without a blog post, it was not intentional just nothing to say really. So I took the week off from blogging but I had time for other stuff.

It has been a beautiful week here and I have been watching a tree across the parking lot from the Rectory starting to change color. I have heard that we are going to have great color this fall so I feel some trips will be taken.

Many of you know I have a pop up or tent trailer and this year all I seem to do is move it from one place in the yard to another. Well I am going to plan some trips. I began work yesterday taking care of all the seams and securing any leaks so my head does not get wet when I sleep. I also needed to get a new part welded on. That task has been completed and I have a few more seams to seal and then we are ready. I have a few places I would like to visit and my plan is to take two days in the middle of the week and head off somewhere. So stay tuned you never know where I might turn up.

So another Sunday is upon us and soon Liturgy will begin. Last week was the Gospel passage about Jesus walking on water. I did not preach on that passage and it is one of my favorites so I think I will preach on that one today. I guess we will be a week behind.

This afternoon I am off on an excursion to try and get an interview for the Shepherd of Souls Podcast. More on that if it happens. If you follow me on twitter you will be able to keep up with my movements.

Pleasant day to all. Get out side and breath the fresh air!

Monday, Monday, La la

Posted on by Fr. Peter
So here it is another Monday and another week ahead to accomplish all sorts of things.

Yesterday after Liturgy and coffee hour I rolled on down to Raynham, Massachusetts for the Annual St. Andrew’s Society of Massachusetts Scottish Picnic. A nice event too bad more people don’t show up but anyway it was fun. I am president of the Society and it is nice to see the board members that I have not seen all summer. A few years back the board decided not to meet during the summer months as not much is going on, and it is festival season. So we chatted a bit about our trip to Loon Mountain in September for the Highland Festival. This is always a great time.

Today I am at my parents house for a day off. One resolution I made after my stay at hospital is to take a day off each week and go somewhere away from the rectory and clear my head. So here I am. I have some reading to do and I need to get a final exam ready for my class on Tuesday night. So I have a little work to do as well as some rest. We have a parish council meeting tonight so I will be back in the Village before the end of the afternoon.

I want to take a moment to welcome the new readers to the blog. It seems that readership has increased, well the comments have increased anyway. I am not sure where you all are from as I took the site meter off a few weeks back because it was causing some problems with the blog. But welcome, it is nice to have you here.

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