Pope Arrives in the United States

Posted on by Fr. Peter

It is 3:57 pm eastern time and EWTN is advising the Shepherd One has landed at Andrew’s Air Force Base. I was surprised to learn that President and Mrs. Bush will meet him at the Air Force Base and give him a ride into town. This is the first time that Mr. Bush, and maybe any other president, has greeted a visiting head of state at the airport.

There is much expectation of what Benedict will have to say and I am sure that the main stream media will parse every word and look for hidden words in his speeches.

The door is open on the plane and the world awaits his visit. Many dignitaries are on hand to greet him including the Archbishop for the US Military.

I wonder if the pilots were nervous flying the Pope to the US, I know I would be.

I was reading an online account of flying on the plane with the Pope. The press pays about $4,500 for the round trip flight on the Alitalia flight. The Pope does not have his won plane he borrows one from Aliatalia when he needs to fly somewhere. So he comes not only as religious leader but as head of the Vatican City State and is greeted as such with all the pomp and circumstance that any visiting head of state would get in the US.

There is a very ominous man standing at the door of the aircraft not letting anyone on. Noe the Nuncio has just gone on the plane to meet the Pope. The commentators on EWTN do not know what to say at this time.

The President and First lady and one of the Daughters his coming out now and the crowd is cheering. There was a movement on to have churches ring bells when the Pope arrived and EWTN is reporting that bells are ringing.

4:11pm the Pope has stepped on US soil. The ladies are dressed in Black and it looks like the US ambassador to the Vatican is there and she is in yellow.

No speeches here just greetings the official speeches come tomorrow in the Rose Garden.

Pope: ‘Ashamed’ of clergy abuse scandal

Posted on by Fr. Peter
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE—Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday he was “deeply ashamed” of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that stained the Catholic church and will work to make sure pedophiles don’t become priests.

Benedict was answering questions that were submitted in advance by reporters aboard a special Alitalia airliner as he was flying from Rome to Washington to begin his first papal pilgrimage to the United States.

“It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the Church in general and for me personally that this could happen,” Benedict said. “It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission … to these children.

“I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future,” the pope said.

Benedict pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Roman Catholic church.
“We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry,” Benedict said, speaking in English. “It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound.”

Benedict’s pilgrimage was the first trip by a pontiff to the United States since the sex abuse scandal rocked U.S. dioceses in the early 2000s and triggered lawsuits that have cost the church hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.

From boston.com

This Week

Posted on by Fr. Peter
We are getting closer to Holy Week and events are starting to pick up speed. Before we know it things will take on a life of their own. I usually tell the faithful on Palm Sunday that I will see them on the other side. This year we have an ambitious Liturgical Schedule to get through.

Great Lent ends and Holy Week begins with the Saturday of Lazarus. So from that point until Easter Morning I have 21 Liturgical events. Some of those involve changing the altar cloths and vestments for one service and back again for the next. I have a trip to the cleaners today with the white and gold vestments as well as the altar cloths and other such things. There seem to be a multitude of props, that’s not really a good word, needed for these events not to mention the various homilies.

But before that begins we have the last of the Presanctified Liturgies here on Wednesday and a bible study on Thursday to prepare for. Tonight is out monthly parish council meeting but I will not be attending as I have an early morning chaplain’s meeting at Harvard on Tuesday.

So busy days ahead. Please pray for me and for my cantor and assistant as we begin the holiest of weeks in the Liturgical year.

Pope at Ground Zero

Posted on by Fr. Peter
If you live in the US you know that the Pope is due here tomorrow. He will be visiting Washington, DC and New York City. He will also turn 81 on Wednesday. I hope I have half of his energy when and if I turn 81. Anyway on his schedule is a stop at ground zero for a small prayer service. The Vatican has released the text of his prayer. In this prayer he prays for the conversion of the terrorists. I find this very interesting and fitting with the prayers that we Orthodox pray in the Proskomide and also in the Liturgy of St. Basil. We pray for those who love us and for those who hate us. These words always strike me when I pray them. It is always interesting to pray for ones enemies but we must. Here is the text of the Holy Father’s prayer:
“O God of love, compassion, and healing, look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions, who gather today at this site, the scene of incredible violence and pain.

“We ask you in your goodness to give eternal light and peace to all who died here — the heroic first-responders: our fire fighters, police officers, emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel, along with all the innocent men and women who were victims of this tragedy simply because their work or service brought them here on September 11, 2001.

“We ask you, in your compassion to bring healing to those who, because of their presence here that day, suffer from injuries and illness.

“Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy. Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope. We are mindful as well of those who suffered death, injury, and loss on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“Our hearts are one with theirs as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering. God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the earth.

“Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance as we confront such terrible events.

“Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain. Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.”

5th Sunday of Great Lent ~ St. Mary of Egypt

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal of the First Tone

Let us worship the Word who is unoriginate * with the Father and the Spirit, and from a Virgin was born * for our salvation, O believers, and let us sing His praise. * For in His goodness He was pleased * to ascend the Cross in the flesh, and to undergo death, * and to raise up those who had died, * by His glorious Resurrection.

Resurrectional Kontakion in the Plagal of the First Tone

You descended to Hades, my Savior, and shattered its gates, as the Almighty. As Creator, You raised the dead with yourself, and smashed the sting of death, O Christ. You freed Adam from the curse, O Lover of humanity. Therefore we all cry out to You, Save us, O Lord.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

To you, Theotokos, invincible Defender, having been delivered from peril, I, your city, dedicate the victory festival as a thank offering. In your irresistible might, keep me safe from all trials, that I may call out to you: “Hail, unwedded bride!”

Reading:

The memory of this Saint is celebrated on April 1, where her life is recorded. Since the end of the holy Forty Days is drawing nigh, it has been appointed for this day also, so that if we think it hard to practice a little abstinence forty days, we might be roused by the heroism of her who fasted in the wilderness forty-seven years; and also that the great loving-kindness of God, and His readiness to receive the repentant, might be demonstrated in very deed.

From www.goarch.org

Did the Pope Visit my Blog?

Posted on by Fr. Peter
One of the more mundane tasks I do each morning is check the stats on my blog. This morning when I checked I noticed I had a visitor from the Vatican. Maybe His Holiness was checking me out before his visit to the US next week.

Anyway, Welcome!

Redemption

Posted on by Fr. Peter
This past Tuesday, April 8th was the first baseball game of the season at Fenway Park in Boston. There were many activities that day, including a baseball game. As is the current trend someone of note is called up to throw out the first pitch of the game. Out from under the new banner hanging on the Green Monster, strode none other than Bill Buckner. Now if you don’t now anything about his read his wikipedia entry here, I will wait.
Welcome back! I will draw your attention to the part about the 1986 world series and the ball rolling between his legs. Most people believe that this is why we lost the series that year. So Bill Buckner was booed and hated for years after that. Well, as he walked across the outfield to the pitchers mound everyone in the park got to their feet and cheered him on. The local news cut to a guy that said, “we forgive you Bill.” Ahhhhh the ultimate redemption.

If a Red Sox fan can forgive Bill Buckner for loosing the world series why do we find it so hard to forgive those who have wronged us. For us Orthodox we are still in the season of Great Lent. We begin this season with the Sunday of Forgiveness so that we start the time off in the right state of mind. At the beginning of the liturgy the deacon prays in Peace let us Pray to the Lord. We must be at peace with one another, we must forgive one another, before we can approach God for forgiveness.

If there is someone who has hurt you or wronged you in some way reach out and forgive them and pray for them. If they are gone then ask for their forgiveness or write them a letter and tell them that you forgive them and then burn the letter and as the smoke rises pray with the psalmist let my prayer arise like incense before thee.

If I may have offended anyone please forgive me!

Pope Benedict on St. Benedict

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Recently Pope Benedict gave a talk on St. Benedict of Nursia the patron of his papacy. As a former Benedictine I have a special place in my heart for St. Benedict who both churches call the father of Western Monasticism. It was during my time in the monastery when I was introduced to the eastern church and read the Way of the Pilgrim for the first time. Click the link below to read the speech.

“The Great Monk Is Still a True Teacher”

Love…

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I will admit at the start of this post that I am watching the Red Sox opener at Fenway while writing so I might be a little distracted.
The last word in the phrase before communion is Love. Fr. Greg has a post on the Greek meaning of the word on his blog. What is the love that the author of the Liturgy is referring too? Is it simply love for God or is it more than that?

My gut tells me that it is love of God and love of neighbor. Just as Jesus tells us in the Gospel. So how can we be unreconciled with our neighbor (is that a word?) and still approach the cup? The rubrics for the Liturgy say that the priest must be reconciled to all men before serving the Liturgy. In the Old Testament we read that if you bring your sacrifice to the altar and you are not reconciled with your neighbor, then leave it, go see your neighbor and then return and make your sacrifice. So it would seem that this word has a double meaning.

My friend and fellow pilgrim Huw has a much better grasp on the OT then I do perhaps he will weigh in on this topic from an OT perspective.

Okay top of the eighth inning and the Sox are in the lead 5-0 that’s a good thing!

Update: Huw on Love!

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