Metropolitan Jonah

From Ancient Faith Radio

Metropolitan Jonah addresses the assembly with his perspective on the Episcopal Assembly process currently underway in North America.

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Dear Fr. Johannes,

On behalf of the OCA Strategic Planning Committee, thank you for posting our Draft Plan, and thanks also to those of your readers who have posted their thoughtful comments. When the Special Investigating Committee recommended that the OCA engage in this process, this is exactly the kind of openness and dialogue for which we prayed.

The Strategic Planning Committee is now at the stage of seeking the broadest possible input on our work. We will make presentations at Diocesan Assemblies, seminaries, monasteries, parishes and anywhere else we can for this purpose. While our ideas may have some merit, it is the Church which must shape its future, for which the Plan is but one tool. Everyone’s engagement is critical. I will personally convey comments on your blog to the Committee, and each will be seriously discussed. We can also be contacted directly at ocastratplan@oca.org

Again, our thanks to you and to your dedicated readers.

In Christ,

Dr. Dmitri Solodow

This is my essay that appeared on Catholic Online today.

Don’t Let Muslims Define 9-11

NAPLES (Catholic Online) – Muslims have it over secularists, but not Christians – at least the clear thinking ones anyway. The Muslim proposal to build a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero is not only an affront to all people who died there, but another chapter in a cultural jihad that seeks to replace the cultural traditions of Christendom with Sharia, the code of law derived from the Koran and from the teachings and example of Mohammed.

First the caveats. Yes, most Muslims are not jihadists; they may see the non-Muslim as an infidel but won’t resort to violence to defeat him. Yes, Muslim believers pose no threat to American cultural norms and legal structures as long as their numbers remain small. Yes, every Muslim citizen should be afforded the rights due to all Americans regardless of their religion.

The $100 million mosque however, represents more than religious freedom. Named the “Cordoba House,” it is meant to recall the great Cordoba Mosque built in Cordoba, Spain in 784 after the Muslim conquest (and etch it forever in the West’s historical memory). The Cordoba House in New York (which assuredly will function as a mosque) is meant to broadcast to the world that the destruction of the Twin Towers was a victory for jihad.

It’s a perverse twist to a practice that Christians hold dear: Some ground is sacred and must reference God to make sense of the events that took place on it.

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Matt Garza on his way to a no hitter.

Garza Pitches Fifth No-Hitter of Season in First for Tampa Bay

Source: Tulsa World By: GEORGE C. MICHALOPULOS

George C. Michalopulos: In a free society we should welcome open and honest debate.

Personally, I’ve always considered him a friend and still do. (Regina Orthodox Press, which is owned by Frank, published a book I wrote.) Having said that, I was disheartened by much of what I heard. I fear that some of his statements may have been injurious to many people; at the very least some might think that because of his fame, as an author, lecturer, and television commentator, he represents the views of the Orthodox Church.
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Source: The Republic

Terry Mattingly

Officers will be elected.

Political issues will be discussed. Lofty resolutions will be passed.

At least one long business session will include a proposal about clergy benefits and salaries.

[...]

But something unusual happened recently during the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). An official “ecumenical advisory delegate” — Father Siarhei Hardun of the Orthodox Church of Belarus — used his moment at the podium to deliver a message that was courteous and stunning at the same time, if not genuinely offensive to many in the audience.

Read the entire article on The Republic website.

Source: Colson Center

Source: Today’s Zamann

Patriarch Bartholomew

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan has quietly led the gesture to the Orthodox, who face a shortage of candidates to succeed İstanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 70, and serve on the Holy Synod, which administers patriarchate affairs.

Turkish law requires the patriarch to be a citizen. But the Orthodox community in Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, has fallen to some 3,000 from 120,000 a half-century ago, drastically shrinking the pool of potential future patriarchs.

"The specific call Erdoğan made to give citizenship to those who will take up an official position at the patriarchate came in response to the problems they have," İbrahim Kalın, Erdoğan's chief foreign-policy adviser, said in an interview.

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Fr. Gregory Jensen, contributing editor to AOI blog and editor of Koinonia blog recently published this essay on the Acton Institute website.

Fr. Gregory Jensen

Privacy in our culture has come to serve not a deepening of community life but an ever deeper sense of social isolation.  Even otherwise laudable behavior is increasingly justified not by the goodness of what is done but by the modern sense of privacy.  Even among those who ought to know better, the Gospel is presented in terms that are almost wholly personal without any sense of its public character and demands.   Our sense of isolation from each other has become so profound that even to suggest that there is a human nature and that true happiness is only possible when we live in conformity to our nature, is seen a provocation and an assault on the radical autonomy of the individual.  

Paradoxically, when privacy is in the service of isolation it is also the source of what Peggy Noonan (The Eyes Have It) describes as our increasingly "exhibitionist culture."  She writes that more and more we "know things about each other (or think we do) that we should not know, have no right to know, and have a right, actually, not to know.”  While technology has a role to play here, Noonan sees the cause as rooted in the loss of what I would call the right sense of personal privacy.  Lose this, Noonan says, and "we lose some of our humanity; we lose things that are particular to us, that make us separate and distinctive as souls, as, actually, children of God."  And with this loss comes as well the loss of a truly civil society.  "We also lose trust, not only in each other but in our institutions, which we come to fear. “ 

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We are witnessing the emergence of a new kind of ecumenical work, one that respects theological differences, but recognizes that if the de-Christianization of culture continues, it would lead to cultural catastrophe (most likely a capitulation to Islam). This recognition also sharpens both the beliefs and values the Christian Churches share in common so that ecumenical activity in the future would be formed around cooperation in strengthening them.

ZE10071905 – 2010-07-19
Source

Says Both Churches Can Work Together on Many Issues

On July 17, 2010, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, speaking in Church and World talk show, answered questions from anchorman Ivan Semenov concerning the work of the DECR as a church external policy department.

- Does an Orthodox Christian in his everyday life ever encounter the work of the DECR and fruits of your efforts?

- Of course, they do, especially those who live in the far-abroad countries and some neighbouring countries. Take for instance relations between the Orthodox and the Catholics or between the Orthodox and the Protestants. These are not only relations existing on official level. Many Orthodox believers live in countries with the predominant Catholic Church or in the countries where most people confess Protestantism. It means there are mixed marriages, communication at work places with people of other faiths or other Christian confessions. We do not live in a world where we are isolated from each other. It is the DECR’s responsibility to deal with this extensive problematic involved in relationships between the Church and the external world including other Christian confessions.

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Tough words, certainly politically incorrect, but true. Source: Jihad Watch.

Pat Condell on Ground Zero mosque: “Is it possible to be astonished, but not surprised?”

Orthodox Church in America

Source: OCA Website

SYOSSET, NY [OCA] — The “Working Draft of a Strategic Plan for the Orthodox Church in America,” prepared by the Strategic Planning Committee of the OCA’s Metropolitan Council, is now available on-line in PDF format on the OCA web site at www.oca.org/PDF/NEWS/2010/2010-0624-strategicplan-v4.6.pdf.

The committee, which includes clergy and lay members representing a broad geographic spectrum, was commissioned by the Metropolitan Council and the Holy Synod of Bishops to develop a draft Strategic Plan for the OCA. According to the introduction to the Working Draft, “the goal is to provide an initial version of the plan in time for discussion and perhaps adoption at the 16th All-American Council in the fall of 2011.” As such, the draft is designed to elicit feedback from all segments of the Church. Based on the feedback received, the plan will be revised.

“This Strategic Plan is meant to be roadmap for us, as the Church, as we continue to witness to God’s Kingdom in the early parts of the 21st century,” according to Priest John Vitko, a committee member. “In developing this roadmap, it is critically important that we reach out to all the members of the Church for their prayerful input.”

The committee initiated this process by seeking and integrating input from His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah and members of the Holy Synod and the Metropolitan Council.
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Journalist Terry Mattingly edits the blog “Get Religion” which examines religion in the media. The blog is a great read and worth a (repeating) look. A few excepts from Mattingly’s commentary on Fr. Hardun’s recent comments at the Presbyterian assembly (see: MINNEAPOLIS: Presbyterian gay measures criticized by visiting (Orthodox) priest):

Terry Mattingly

As you would expect, the only place one can find more extensive coverage of Father Siarhei’s remarks — which were spoken gently, but were extremely blunt — is in publications linked to the PCUSA conservatives, such as The Layman. For those who paid close attention to the doctrinal comments in his text, his words could only be called shockingly offensive.

(Fr. Hardun) is saying that the divisions inside the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) may be rooted in a clash between those who are heeding the God of the Bible and those who are hearing the voices of, literally, another god. He is asking if part of the assembly is, in a very real way, possessed by a false spirit.

Whether one agrees with him or not, that is a truly radical and offensive statement. It might even be newsworthy. You think?

Read Terry Mattingly’s entire commentary.

View Fr. Hardun’s greeting below (starts at about 0:58):

Remember the promises? No government funds for abortions.

Source: gop.gov

We must stop this immoral offense against human life and against American taxpayers.

Washington, DC – U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, released the following statement today in response to the Obama Administration spending $160 million on a “high risk” insurance program that will pay for abortions:

It is morally wrong to end an unborn human life by abortion. It is also reprehensible to take taxpayer dollars from millions of pro-life Americans and use them to pay for abortions.

President Obama promised the American people that his health care law would not allow federal funding of abortion. But according to an investigation by the National Right to Life Committee, this allocation for Pennsylvania’s high risk pool will break the president’s promise by using taxpayer dollars to subsidize coverage of nearly any kind of abortion.

We must stop this immoral offense against human life and against American taxpayers. Congress should act quickly on critical legislation by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) to stop the administration from using ObamaCare to fund abortions. The best long-term solution, and the one that I remain committed to, is the total repeal of ObamaCare.

Look at the economic strength of the US compared to the rest of the world. There has to be a way to turn the problems around.

Source: Strange Maps. Click to enlarge.

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Fort Ross was an important center in bringing Orthodoxy to America.

London Telegraph (click to see the gallery).

Fort Ross - Russian outpost on the California coast

HT: Virtue Online

July 09, 2010

An Orthodox Church theologian who was invited to greet the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has criticized its approval of non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy.

The Reverend Siarhei Hardun of Belarus said that vote and efforts to approve gay marriage looked to him like an attempt to “invent a new religion — a sort of modern paganism.”

Hardun added, “When people say that they are led and guided by the Holy Spirit to do it, I wonder if it is the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible.”

The Orthodox priest’s remarks drew applause from conservative Presbyterians who made similar arguments at the gathering in Minneapolis.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY, JULY 11, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The announcement of the upcoming release of political dissidents in Cuba, an event in which the Church played a vital role, is a significant step for the Caribbean nation, says a Vatican spokesman.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said this in the most recent edition of the weekly Vatican Television program “Octava Dies.”

On Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Havana announced the forthcoming release of 52 political prisoners — five immediately and 47 more in the coming three or four months. Their release is another fruit of mediation by the Church, which already brought the freedom of a paraplegic prisoner and the relocation of 12 others.

The Vatican spokesman said the release of the prisoners, and the end of the hunger strike of journalist Guillermo Fariñas, “is good news from the Caribbean island, which we were expecting for several weeks.”
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The report is filtered through Evangelical theology but it remains powerful nevertheless.

Another video of Fr. Zakaria:

Kevin Allen interviews Dr. Frank Papatheofanis, President of the new St. Katherine College, about what it takes to start an Orthodox liberal arts and sciences college.

Listen here:

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From Fr. Gregory Jensen (Koinonia)

Of the many reasons I keep a blog, one central reason is that it allows me to meet many, many people and to introduce them to the Orthodox Church.

Most of the people I meet online never become Orthodox–but some do. Among those who have is Macrina Walker who, until very recently, was a cloistered Catholic Cistercian nun in the Netherlands. Without going into the particulars, I have corresponded with Sr Macrina for a while now and I can tell you she has not undertaken lightly the decision to leave her monastery and prepare for admission to the Orthodox Church.

Because she has left her monastery, however, “life is still betwixt and between” and while “things are coming together in quite an exciting way” for her, many “things are still unclear and it will take awhile to jump through some legal hoops.” So for the time being, Macrina hopes to support herself by making and selling prayer ropes. Anyone familiar with the lives of the desert fathers can tell you, Macrina is doing what monastics have always done, she is supporting herself by manual labor.

A prayer rope is something like a Catholic rosary. Where the rosary is used to say the Hail Mary and to mediate on the life of the Theotokos, the prayer rope is used to in conjunction with sating the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”) You can learn more about the prayer rope here and can find out a bit about the Jesus Prayer here.

The prices for the prayer ropes are reasonable.

These prayer ropes are made from pure black wool and natural, light wooden beads. There are three main varieties:

100 knot, with cross and tassle

50 knot, with cross and tassle

33 knot, with small cross
The 33 knot rope is available in a slightly looser and slightly tighter version, depending on the thickness of one’s wrists!

All the ropes will still stretch somewhat.

Prices are as follows:
33 knot: euro 7
50 knot: euro 11
100 knot: euro 18

Postage & packaging:
Within Europe: euro 1.30
Outside Europe: euro 1.50

For orders of more than one prayer rope, Macrina will look at postage costs and get back to you.

So would you please consider ordering a prayer rope from Sr Macrina? Or maybe ordering several for your parish bookstore? You can find out how to place an order by going to Macrina’s blog, “A Vow of Conversation.”

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois Democratic nominee for US Senator, supports homosexual marriage. Here’s the introduction from the Greek Star (a Chicago newspaper with Greek readership):

Alexi Giannoulias, Democratic nominee for US Senator, shares why he supports the freedom to marry for all, including people of the same sex. This is something that many of his supporters, and especially Greek-Americans may be opposed to. The Greek-American politician chose to be honest and he should be given credit for being brave to state his opinion on a difficult subject. He stated, “There may be many individuals that may not be happy with my particular stance”. The Greek Orthodox church does not allow, or support, same sex marriage. Giannoulias in the video continues “To me faith has always been less about how you treat God and more about how you treat people.”

Alexi Giannoulias

What you see in Giannoulias is the same syndrome that affects former Senator Paul Sarbanes and Senator Olympia Snowe who had no qualms ignoring Church teaching on the sanctity of life in their public lives. Both Sarbanes and Snowe never met an abortion provision they did not defend. Both voted against the repeal of partial birth abortion, and both supported the funding that promoted abortions in the Third World (a particularly noxious form of cultural imperialism). Giannoulias takes the accommodation of the moral deconstruction of Western culture to the next level: redefine marriage to cultural insignificance.

And no, Alexi, the Christian faith is not about “how you treat God.” The Christian faith is about how God has treated you. Then, and only then, will you properly understand how to treat people.

Yet the real failure, or at least the primary failure, does not rest with Giannoulias, or Sabanes or Snowe. The real failure is the accommodation the Church makes with the culture by lauding these politicians without public correction. Giannoulias simply reflects the generation that follows Sarbanes and Snowe. The generation that follows Giannoulias will justify even more egregious sin. The culture is morally confused, and because the Church refuses to draw clear moral distinctions our parishioners are too. That’s why Giannoulias supports homosexual marriage and why the Greek Star praises his stand as virtuous.

Here’s the video: