I mentioned this last week, but Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston is in Rome and has begun a blog. Although he does not make the posts himself, someone on his staff does it for him, he does write all of the entries. It is his travel log and very interesting. Check it out if you have a few minutes.

The Gospel reading for today’s Liturgy is taken from Luke’s Gospel chapter 6 vs 31-36. A very short Gospel reading by Orthodox standards but a very powerful one. The end of the selection for today I think is the most important one of all. Love those who do not like us. How hard is this for us to do? I would say this has to be the hardest thing that we as Christians are called too but also the most rewarding.

The fathers of the church speak of the soul as the center of the body, and if the soul is sick the body will also be sick. If you are carrying around hatred for someone because the wronged you, or your family, then you need to find a way to forgive them and let go.

A new theological concept has come about in the last few years called restorative justice. It is through this concept that victims and perpetrators of crime are brought together for healing. Dorothy Day was a big supporter of this concept although it was called something different in her day.

The message from this Gospel is clear. We must love everyone, and not just the people who love us.

Last Sunday, as I mentioned in the previous post, I was at a Krking service in New Hampshire. The minister spoke about faith and about how much time we spend on the “things” of life. He asked us to ask ourselves how much time we spend doing things other than practicing our faith. I have been thinking about that this week. How much time do we spend on other things? What else could we be doing? Makes me stop and ponder.

Today is a very strange day for me. For the first time in the more than 2 years since I have been ordained, I am not celebrating the Divine Liturgy today. I am on a little vacation with my family in New Hampshire and I have been invited to participate in an ancient ceremony called the Kirking of the Tartans. This ceremony dates back to the time when the tartan was outlawed in Scotland and people would sneak a small piece into the church. At some point in the service, the minister would bless the small swatches. This is a very moving ceremony as it calls to mind a time when all was not free in Scotland. Although it has been many generations since my family lived in Scotland, it is still nice to keep up the old traditions.

Otherwise the time has been fun. Lots of rain yesterday but it did not dampen the excitement of the pipe bands, dancers, and others who have come from so far to participate in the activities of the weekend. It is also nice to be back at Loon Mountain. What a great place this is.

It would seem that your host and Fr. Greg might just be starting a radio ministry. The Council of Eastern Orthodox Churches here in Worcester has the ability to get some air time on a local station WCUW a public radio station. The time slot is 4:30-5:30 on Wednesday afternoons. This is hot and I think it will be great. We need to do some work on this so stay tuned for more information. Try and tune the station in 91.3 on FM. Post here if you can get it. Of course whatever we do we will make available on the web somewhere.

On Monday, October 23rd Fr. Greg and myself will celebrate the Liturgy of St. James. This rather involved liturgy is as old if not older than the present Divine Liturgy used in the Orthodox Church. The Liturgy of St. James is usually only celebrated on his feast day. Stay tuned for more information. If anyone has more information on the Liturgy, please feel free to post it here.

Your Host is off for a little R&R; in New Hampshire. This weekend is the New Hampshire Highland Games at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Although the place I am staying advertises that is has wifi, we shall see. I might be able to post some pictures during the weekend if not, look for a complete report early next week.

I have begun research for a Ph.D. that I am pursuing in Romania. My area will be Church History, but more specifically American Church History. I have a theory that I would like to explore and see what comes of it. The theory is this. Communism affected the church in America both in it’s formation and in it’s decline. Continuing along this train of thought, some hold that during the time of communism, specifically during the 1970’s the Orthodox Church in America was very close to uniting in one cohesive group. Then the wall came down and more immigration began and we retreat back to our ethnic corners. So this is the theory. Communism slowed down immigration and the church started to become more indigenous, or more American, and with the fall of communism the church became more ethnic and less American. Not that any of those things are bad on their face, just a theory.

Things have been quiet around the old place. Not much is happening, but I think this is the calm before the storm. Wednesday night we had a liturgy for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I like evening liturgies. The sun beginning to set and people singing. It’s nice. I wish more people would come to liturgy during the week, but we had a nice group there. Saturday will see some construction here at the church. We need to remove some short walls around the outside of the church to prevent water from coming in. I don’t understand all that stuff but the people who do say it needs to be done so off we go. Perhaps there should be a class or two in seminary about all this stuff.

I got myself involved in a little online snit. I belong to several yahoo groups about different things. One of them has to do with Eastern Orthodoxy. What I have found is this group seems to be full of people who want to be part of the orthodox church but for some reason have started their own branch. I am amazed at how many bishops there are out there. So I got into it with this guy, who claims to be a bishop. I guess I should not have, but I have been reading about American Orthodoxy and I just cannot understand why we can’t just all become one. I mean in this little town we have three Orthodox Churches. The town can barley support one and we have three, all different jurisdictions. I will never understand.

that’s my rant for the week.