| Photo: Getty Images Today we face much cultural turmoil and seemingly unreconcilable differences. Our discourse often becomes harsh and even hate filled. It seems we have lost a Christ centeredness in our lives. We seem to be trying to solve our cultural value issues thinking we can change it through political ends. We use social media to spew out our differing opinions thinking that this will make a difference. But history clearly tells us changing a culture is not so easily done. Is it possible that Christians today have taken the wrong track in putting their energies into political action and social media? When we engage in these arenas don’t we become one with the culture we don’t like? Do we act in a way that exhibits the life and teachings of our Savior? Our actions do not communicate an alternative to the present potpourri of ideas and values. Sociologist James Davidson Hunter demonstrates that political action has never been the cause of cultural shifts even though some good things can happen in this way. More often it leads to oppression of minority views, more division and greater discord. If we truly want to bring Christ back to the center of our lives, a different approach is necessary. We are creatures of God called to something much higher than life in this world, the Kingdom of Heaven. To reach this kingdom, Scripture makes it clear, we must become continually better at living like Jesus Christ and become an active participant in a true compassionate faith community. To achieve our God given calling and make a difference in this world, our lived life in our faith community must be different from the general society. This view is clearly spelled out by the acclaimed sociologist Dr James Davison Hunter in his book, To Change The World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. I suggest you read it. He writes, “ Contemporary Christian understandings of power and politics are a very large part of what has made contemporary Christianity in America appalling, irrelevant, and ineffective—part and parcel of the worst elements of our late-modern culture today, rather than a healthy alternative to it.” Pg 94 |
| Patriarch John X: We are Helping Everyone, Muslims and Christians, without Asking for Their Names Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Patriarch John X Interviewed on the Church in Syria, Abducted Archbishops, and More The Syrian newspaper al-Thawra Online met with His Beatitude Patriarch John X Yazigi, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and conducted an open discussion with him that touched upon general issues and the crisis that our country is experiencing. As is his custom, Patriarch Yazigi addressed these issues with all frankness, clarity and transparency. Here follows the text of the discussion: English translation of an interview published by the Patriarchate of Antioch on October 4, 2014: What role does the Antiochian Orthodox Church play as a part of the social fabric of Syria? What has it done and what will it do? To start, we would like to direct our warmest greetings to the Syrian people as a whole and our Muslim brothers in particular on the occasion of Eid el-Adha. Many happy returns. The Patriarchate and our Orthodox Christian people are a fundamental part of our country. We are Syrians, the children of this nation. We were born here, as were our fathers and grandfathers. Christianity started out here and we feel that we are one family with all the country’s communities. Throughout history, the Patriarchate has been—and we hope it shall remain—a fundamental factor for common life in dignity, for reinforcing all the national and historical foundations that have brought us together ever since Christianity appeared in these lands. Ever since the coming of Islam, we have lived together and have built a common history. There is no doubt that our future is one. From your following the situation and on several levels, is there anything new in the case of the two kidnapped bishops? Unfortunately, there is no certain news about our brother bishops. There is much hearsay and many stories. Our prayer for them is that they and all those who have been kidnapped throughout the world are in peace and health of body. We hope that they will be released soon and be among us. Now, after almost a year and a half, amidst this total blackout, it is causing us to wonder and to address the international community, governments, organizations, international bodies, all of them, all concerned parties: where are the slogans about human rights when it comes to the complete indifference to dealing with this issue, this total silence? Most of the accounts and reports that reach us are baseless. It’s like the expression, “It is as though the earth opened up and swallowed them.” Nevertheless, there is no doubt that we are following up on the issue with concerned parties without despair and with all persistence. |
| If You’re Sick of Thoughts and Prayers Because Shootings Still Happen, You Don’t Understand Christianity Source: CHRISTIAN PARENTING BLOG In response to the latest tragic school shooting, social media is on a warpath against anyone who dares to offer “thoughts and prayers” for the situation. Popular articles feature headlines like, “Everyone Is Finally Realizing ‘Thoughts And Prayers’ Are Not Saving Our Kids” and “People Sick of ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ Demand Action After Florida School Shooting.” The hashtag #thoughtsandprayers is trending on Twitter, with scathing tweets about how worthless thoughts and prayers are. My own Facebook newsfeed is filled with similar posts and comments. Scrolling through these articles and social media posts, I can’t help but wonder how many people who make such comments understand the Christian worldview and the role of prayer within it. The online commentary often reflects a serious misunderstanding of what Christians believe. With that in mind, I’m writing this post for two reasons. First, this is an important subject to discuss with your kids. The war on “thoughts and prayers” is one they need to understand given the unfortunate frequency with which this subject is arising. Second, I hope non-Christians will take the time to read this and better understand why being “sick of thoughts and prayers” because shootings still happen doesn’t make sense if you know what Christians believe. Let’s start here: the phrase “thoughts and prayers” lumps two completely different things together. The “thoughts and prayers” verbiage became part of our cultural lexicon because people wanted a way to request help and/or care from a mixed audience of religious and non-religious listeners. But just thinking something—no matter how charitable those thoughts may be—does nothing. This is something that Christians and non-Christians should all be able to agree on. “Sending thoughts” is simply an expression of solidarity with no practical consequence. Now, some people would say, “There’s no difference between those inconsequential thoughts and prayer. Thoughts do nothing and prayers do nothing. That’s the point.” |
| If you are in the “helping professions,” confronting problems in people’s lives, it doesn’t take long to realize that no one is purely and simply an individual. The problems we suffer may occasionally appear to be “of our own making,” but that is the exception rather than the rule. Whether we are thinking of economic or genetic inheritance, or the psychological and social environment, almost all the issues in our lives are a matter of “connection.” The same is true when it comes to virtue and wholeness. Saints are not a phenomenon of individuality. There is a model of what it means to be human that is simply wrong, regardless of its elements of truth. That model envisions us primarily as free-agents, gathering information and making decisions. It emphasizes the importance of choice and the care with which decisions must be made. It lectures long on responsibility and the need to admit that we are the primary cause of our own failings. It praises hard work and admires those with creative insights. Success comes to those who master these virtues and we encourage everyone to take them as their models. This model of human agency is written deep in the mythology of American culture, and, with its global influence, has become increasingly popular elsewhere. Many elements of contemporary Christian thought assume this model of agency to be true and have interwoven it into the notion of salvation itself. The scandalous popularity of the novel teachers of prosperity and personal-success-schemes have raised this model of humanity into something like cult status. But even those who are scandalized by such distortions of the gospel often subscribe to many of its ideas. Those ideas are part of the “common sense” of our culture. They are also part of the nonsense produced by our culture’s mythology. There is virtually nothing about human beings that, strictly speaking , is individual. Beginning from our biology itself, we are utterly and completely connected to others. The same is true of our language and our culture. None of us is an economy to ourselves. Even those things we most cherish as uniquely individual are questionable. |
| On Self-Justification A person pursues justification partly for himself; i.e., to deceive his own conscience. One also strives to justify himself so as not to sully his prestige in the eyes of the others. (This is silly, but such things are customarily so.) And he can do this even without thinking about it. He may not even reflect, not intentionally reasoning thusly at all. Yet, this impulse rises out of his heart, like pus from a wound. One may stand in front of an Icon, being overtaken by feelings of repentance, which is good. But here our problems begin. If, after a certain period of time, we begin to justify ourselves, this means that our repentance—even though we may have initially repented sincerely—is not authentic, not from the very bottom of our heart; for self-justification is still alive in our heart. 27 September 2009 Source: Russian Inok This evening, with the help of our Lord, it is my intention to speak with you about self-justification—something that we all know from our personal experience, something from which all of us suffer, and something which is one of the more serious hindrances and obstacles on the path to salvation. And this last utterance of mine about self-justification is not at all hyperbolic. Listen, please, to the following short excerpt from the instructions of Saint Seraphim of Sofia. The Saint asked of his spiritual children the question: “Why is self-justification so destructive?” In response to the reply that self-justification shows a lack of humility, the Archbishop said: “Rather, it is because there cannot be real repentance in the presence of self-justification; and without repentance, there can be no salvation.” I implore you to note this: “In the presence of self–justification there can be no real repentance”; or, in other words, repentance—true repentance—is incompatible with self-justification. Self-justification is a passion that manifests itself in different ways. This we know. At times, it gushes forth like a fountain. A man utters a plethora of words, absolutely senseless and pernicious from a spiritual point of view, by which he wishes to defend himself against a certain attack or accusation. All of us know how a monastic should behave in such instances, when he is being accused or reproached, or when some misunderstanding occurs in his everyday relationships, and so on. If you are accused of something that you have not done, you should say: “Forgive me, but I have not done this!” If your accuser persists in accusing you of the same thing, you should remain silent or simply say: “Forgive me!” Well, that is the spiritual essence of the matter, and the way to it is indubitably difficult. It is difficult because the “self” is firmly rooted in our sinful, fallen nature, and it reacts spontaneously, from within, through self-justification, whenever someone stings it. |
| Celibacy, Marriage or “free love” – Which way to choose? The problem of gender. The enigmatic side of sexual attractions. A healthy direction for sexual draw. Marriage or celibacy? Marriage and virginity – the two ways. Monasticism. The problem of gender. People are nowadays more than ever exposed to unhealthy sexual pressure. Sexual problems have always tormented the human race. And now they are tormenting it with an even more indomitable power. That is why it is important to help Christians understand this sphere so as to avoid a spiritual catastrophe. There is only one way to master the play of our subconscious powers — that is, to illumine them in calmness and sobriety, in order to understand their hidden dynamics in the light of Christianity. First of all it is necessary to establish the fact that not everything in a human being is natural, for all kinds of perversion also arise “naturally”, becoming the cause of severe and agonizing illnesses. In our blindness we can not make out right away as to what can be acknowledged as “natural,” and what is, though being experienced as “natural,” in fact, a display of unhealthy deviation and spiritual dislocation. Many sufferings torment human beings because they did not master that fight of light and darkness, of virtue and vice, at the right time, which starts at a very early age… The enigmatic side of sexual attractions. Why does the problem of gender contain so much difficulty and suffering? Our other functions usually develop normally without causing any complications; but in sexuality our body and soul are bound so tight together and affect each other so imperceptibly that sexual desires can cause extreme pressure. It is exactly within the sphere of sexuality that everything in human life is brought together, — things dark and terrifying, as well as bright and creative. Thus the right arrangement of sexual life is a most important task in our life. A major obstacle in the elucidation of the gender problem is that this sphere is closed for us in many aspects, as though being hidden in psychological twilight. Under the conditions of modern life, filled with vulgarity and moral decadence, a person must learn how to guard his spiritual health and develop an “antidote” against all kinds of fornication. It is especially important for the young whose sexual attractions are developed too early. Indeed, young men mostly suffer from the intensified work of imagination in the area of gender, from that secret curiosity and inner tension, that so much weakens any self-control. It is the premature development of sexual imagination, neither bridled by spiritual sobriety nor restrained by Christian morals, that becomes the source of all sorts of mental illnesses. |
| A Call for Liturgical Renewal The Liturgical Effectiveness of Pews Liturgical Life Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2011 - 05:50:02 A Call for Liturgical Renewal The Liturgical Effectiveness of Pews Mar 26, 2009, 10:00 Discuss this article Printer friendly page Source: The Internet Edition of St. Luke " s Mission Periodical Implied in the Orthodox liturgical tradition, and axiomatic as well in the modern Liturgical Movement, is the basic principle that what we do and what we say in corporate worship directly influences our beliefs, our attitudes and our daily behavior. That influence is indeed one of liturgical worship " s intended effects. Liturgy teaches. Liturgy is designed to affect life. Bad liturgy therefore has bad effects. Heretical worship sows the seeds of error. Boring services of worship bore. But the Divine Liturgy served in the beauty of holiness manifests the light of truth and inspires holy living. Few Orthodox believers in North America today would deny the validity of the above fundamental principle, especially when it comes to using, the language of the people in our services of worship. For how can the Word take full effect, if that sacred Word is spoken exclusively in a foreign tongue? We are quite conscious as well that the quality of the preaching, the excellence of the teaching, the beauty of the iconography, the loveliness of the singing, and everything else that contributes to the liturgical celebration, also directly influence the thinking and the living of those who participate in that Liturgy. But have we thought about the direct effects of having pews (or rows of chairs) installed in our churches for use during the Divine Liturgy and the other rites of the Church? Are pews, which we borrowed not so very long ago from the Protestants and the Roman Catholics (who borrowed them from the Protestants) a liturgical accretion without consequences? Or, do pews (and pew-like rows of chairs) make a significant difference in the life of the Church? Or is the idea they do make a difference perhaps only the bothersome complaint of reactionaries who want to obstruct the progress of Orthodoxy in the name of a false traditionalism? Asking ourselves these questions, we came up with the following painful observations. They lead us to the inescapable conclusion that pews and rows of chairs make a significant difference, a big difference, in our Orthodox Christian lives. That has absolutely nothing to do with jurisdictional differences or with shades of opinion in the Church, or with labels like " traditionalist " and " modernist. " It has everything to do with the Orthodox understanding of the Body of Christ, and the nature of liturgical worship. |
| Sex as Vocation Understanding of sex as vocation has radical practical implications for conjugal relations in sacramental marriage today. Photo from http://wallscollection.net In a previous article , I argued that in the fog of the contemporary debate over sexuality, we often lose sight of the destructive prevalence of lust in our sexual relationships. Even within the canonical bounds of marriage, the presence of lust signals the tyranny of the self, and a spiritual separation from God. By reorienting our sexual desires to God, we deprive the self of its power to compel our sexuality. Sex becomes something we choose to do, an obedient response to God’s call—a divine vocation . A very thoughtful reader wrote recently asking to expand on the practical implications of this conclusion. What does it mean, in real terms, for spouses to ‘have sex with God’s blessing,’ (as she memorably put it)? The Eucharist offers us a useful analogy. The way in which we eat food ‘with God’s blessing’ can help us understand how to treat sex the same way. To begin with, Christians fast in preparation for holy communion. This ascetic endeavour allows us to assert that earthly food is optional, and so overthrow the demands of the self. Since, as creatures we still require nourishment, we offer up all food (symbolized in bread and wine) to God, proclaiming that only He can satisfy us. And only then do we obey His command to “Take, eat…” and “Drink of this, all of you…” Our Eucharistic offering thus transforms our desire for food from a compulsion of the self into a desire satisfied in obedience to the Word of God. This transformation, far from denigrating the physical act of eating, actually exalts it. No longer just a means to the end of self-gratification, the consumption of food acquires a deeper significance—our eternal satisfaction with the ‘bread from heaven.’ How does the Eucharist shed light on sexuality as a vocation? The Apostle Paul provides further insight in his pastoral instructions to the Corinthian church: |
| The story of Lazarus, which occurs before Christ’s suffering and death, specifically addresses the heart of the Church after Christ’s suffering and death. For though we rejoice in Christ’s death and resurrection, it is our dead brother (mother, father, sister, friend) who lies heavy on our hearts. St. John’s Gospel records the story of Christ’s raising Lazarus from the dead as the last action of Christ before His entry into Jerusalem. That setting has given rise to the feast of Lazarus Saturday in the Orthodox Church – a small Pascha before Holy Week. The three synoptic gospels make no mention of these events, to which I draw no historical conclusions. The gospels include and exclude events for many reasons, historical considerations seeming to be of the least importance. Which stories, and in what order, primarily serve deeper theological concerns. For St. John, the story of Lazarus serves as the occasion for commentary and teaching on the resurrection of believers, much like the Feeding of the Five Thousand serves for commentary and teaching on the Eucharist. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” (Martha’s words) echoes the universal voice of the Church in the face of Christ’s delayed Second Coming. It is the plaintive heart of believers who wonder why God allows suffering. And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” (Joh 11:37) It is an obvious question, repeated in various forms by believers as well as scoffers through the centuries. The story of Lazarus, which occurs before Christ’s suffering and death, specifically addresses the heart of the Church after Christ’s suffering and death. For though we rejoice in Christ’s death and resurrection, it is our dead brother (mother, father, sister, friend) who lies heavy on our hearts. “Your brother will rise again.” These words of Christ, like a statement of Church doctrine, bring little comfort to someone stuck in their grief. It is Christ’s affirmation, “I am the resurrection and the life,” that sums up the encounter. The people do not understand, not even when Lazarus is raised from the dead. That Christ Himself is the resurrection and the life does not become clear until His own resurrection. |
| A Call for Liturgical RenewalThe Liturgical Effectiveness of Pews Are pews, which we borrowed not so very long ago from the Protestants and the Roman Catholics (who borrowed them from the Protestants) a liturgical accretion without consequences? Or, do pews (and pew-like rows of chairs) make a significant difference in the life of the Church? Or is the idea they do make a difference perhaps only the bothersome complaint of reactionaries who want to obstruct the progress of Orthodoxy in the name of a false traditionalism? Asking ourselves these questions, we came up with the following painful observations. Source: The Internet Edition of St. Luke’s Mission Periodical Implied in the Orthodox liturgical tradition, and axiomatic as well in the modern Liturgical Movement, is the basic principle that what we do and what we say in corporate worship directly influences our beliefs, our attitudes and our daily behavior. That influence is indeed one of liturgical worship’s intended effects. Liturgy teaches. Liturgy is designed to affect life. Bad liturgy therefore has bad effects. Heretical worship sows the seeds of error. Boring services of worship bore. But the Divine Liturgy served in the beauty of holiness manifests the light of truth and inspires holy living. Few Orthodox believers in North America today would deny the validity of the above fundamental principle, especially when it comes to using, the language of the people in our services of worship. For how can the Word take full effect, if that sacred Word is spoken exclusively in a foreign tongue? We are quite conscious as well that the quality of the preaching, the excellence of the teaching, the beauty of the iconography, the loveliness of the singing, and everything else that contributes to the liturgical celebration, also directly influence the thinking and the living of those who participate in that Liturgy. But have we thought about the direct effects of having pews (or rows of chairs) installed in our churches for use during the Divine Liturgy and the other rites of the Church? |
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