A Response to “On administering Holy Communion in a Time of a Plague”
This was sent to me and deserves a read. You can read the Calivas article here . We can all agree that we are living in unusual times. However, the nature and extent of the illness that we face, and the proper response of the Church, is a matter of much disagreement. We have seen various responses to the COVID-19 epidemic: calls to close our Churches as infectious vectors, and demands to open them as places of spiritual healing. Directives a) ordering the cessation of sacramental life as part of an effort to “flatten the curve,” and cries for access to the divine grace that flows forth from those very mysteries; b) calling for the restriction of “at-risk persons,” and serious questions about the validity of such controls, c) instructions to liturgists to wear personal protective equipment during the celebration of the divine services and the distribution of the holy Mysteries, and uncertainty about the fitness of such practices. Who has been championing what and on behalf of whom? The ...
Alas, he fails to mention the name of our Savior.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine that was easy. But I also wondered why Archbishop Demetriod didn't make the Sign of the Cross or begin with "In the name of the Father..." I'm sure many in the crowd thought he was some kind of alien. God bless him!
ReplyDeleteHow can he pray to the Father without mentioning Christ, the one Way and Mediator? No Trinity, no Cross = no one offended. BRAVO! St. Paul preached "Jesus and the Resurrection" to the pagans in Athens who knew nothing about the true God. Surely Abp. Demetrius can mention Christ at the RNC. So this must be the new "openness" the EP/GOA bishops boast about as they criticize other local churches in the clergy-laity conference video.
ReplyDeleteWell, I read the comments and expected worse. An explicit reference to the Heavenly Father, implicit and veiled references to His Son and His Spirit (obvious to those with ears to hear). Certainly Orthodox in the underlying ethos, with a generous (too generous?) acknowledgement of and adjustment to the "American Civil Religion" and it's expected norms of "public prayer".
ReplyDeleteI personally don't think we should be doing this sort of thing - that is participating in the American Civil Religion - particularly now that it is on its death bed and its children (i.e. ideological secularism, anti-Christianity, etc.) are in power. However there are those who disagree (i.e. that we should continue "to try" and "to dialogue") though they are largely of the generation of Abp. Demetrios himself...it won't be long to this sort of silliness is gone from the landscape...
Christopher