"I am the door. By me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." - John 10:9 At every parish where I have had the pleasure of attending services, there is always a small group of people who find their way all the way up to the church building but don't actually attend services. At one parish it was a group of male gypsies who talked on cellphones or smoked cigarettes. At another it was a few Protestant husbands who, though they never attended services, opened the parish doors for people as they filed in. At yet another parish the men stood in the narthex and chatted until it was time to receive and then got in line. Latin or Greek Catholic, Eastern or Oriental Orthodox I see the same small throng of men standing next to the front door, but not standing, sitting, or kneeling amongst the people. If it were me (and I can only speak for myself here) this option would be an unsavory one. The boredom would be immediate. The anxiety of som...
His Holiness is right. There is far too much harm done to the Church by self-proclaimed experts in Orthodoxy criticizing the leadership of the Church or fighting their private argumen ts on the internet. Much of what passes for news is mere gossip that does harm to the Church. We must all remember that we should all be concerned about our own salvation and let God take care of His Holy Church
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Its sad how the hurtful things people say and do once they are separated from personal contact.
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