these people is us.
]]>In reality, his words represent an effete (dare I say it: effeminiate?) folderol that’s fobbed on us as authentic. Little or no Gospel and a lot of little “t” traditions.
]]>Granted the Greeks, the Slavs and the Syrians each have a whole boat load of saints (thank God!) and we don’t. Ignored is the fact that the ideal to which these people look never was as ideal as they believe (there were not saint around every corner). Never mind that the cultural and demographic reality of the United States is so vastly different than any kind the Church has faced before so that old models of holiness based on a village/agrarian social system simply won’t work (it is simply another utopian idealism). Never mind the fact that the myopic ghetto mentality is as far from Christian as one can get.
If we Orthodox cannot or will not build vibrant communities within the context of our society and culture, the Church is not really the Church or we have failed utterly to understand what the Church is.
There is certaily a lot of work to do in order to really take on the reality of the Church so that we can evangelize in a prophetic manner, but it is unlikely that we will be able to do that while arguing about turf and who is more Orthodox than whom. Fact is, none of us are and all of us are.
To those who seek the truth in humility the Church will be revealed. To those who want to exclude as many folks as possible from the Church, darkness will hide the truth from their eyes.
]]>Your last post seems to indicate that you either fear an American Orthodox Church, or you believe it will persecute the “real Orthodox” Church – which, of course, will do nothing in English.
While I agree that the leadership of the Church is too easily manipulated by yearnings for political power, it is precisely that which will be prevented by an American Orthodox Church.
Besides, even Cyprus has churches that do everything in English. No one is crying “Antichrist” over it there.
]]>A nightmare scenario (cf. his 1956 Cheesefare homily) that St. John of Shanghai and SF described is the apostasy of many in the Church who will turn to the antichrist, because the enemy will allow services to continue and even support the building of churches. These apostates will point to the high “position” of the Church in society, i.e. the support of the antichrist, as evidence of his goodwill and interest in mutual beneficence.
Does this mean that these apostates will use the support of the antichrist to consolidate their position in the U.S? Will they denounce those who will not join them? Join the persecutors? Will this antichrist-approved Orthodox body become the “official” Orthodox Church during this evil time? Will “foreign” Orthodox Church bodies (e.g. Russians, Greeks) be expelled or liquidated? Will the antichrist fullfill the dreams of many for a united and truly American Orthodox Church?
]]>No, rather give glory and thanks to God!
]]>I’m very familiar with the Troy P. story, and it is a wonderful testimony.
I guess I forgot that such stories never happen outside of Elder Ephraim’s monsteries….oh, wait, they do.
In fact, they are a tiny minority of such stories and testimonies. Not to discount the work of the Athonite monastery, but they are not missionary focused like, say, St. Patrick’s or St. Benedict’s – going to places where there were few Christians and evangelizing the local populace. They are doing their thing and people desiring a deeper monastic experience find them – and thank God for it.
But they aren’t the only monasteries in the US.
They are the best funded though. Gotta hand it to those Athonites.
]]>The Orthodox Church has various traditional Saint titles.
When the Church speaks of a “Confessor”, this is a Saint who suffered for the faith but was not martyred outright.
One should be a (little “c”) confessor daily in life, but the tile “Confessor” is given by the Church only to those who have already finished the race, the course of there lives, – and won.
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