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 ...
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ReplyDeleteThis great,,,,where are we in this equation? Did the ship leave without us again,? Note the tv screens and that the priest has no foreign accent,,,,no pony tail,, and trims his beard,,,,,bet they get a bunch of inquirers.
ReplyDeleteKind of strange to focus on the priest's grooming habits, but I'd be extremely disappointed if my parish were to sink to installing television screens.
DeleteLove me them Copts! They are doing a great job here and growing like verdulaga (purslane) from the cracks in the sidewalks. Go blesses them with many converts because they express the Gospel of Christ with such love and fervor!
DeleteThe warmth of Coptic Orthodox toward Rûm Orthodox cousins is unmatched. While Russian clergy are welcoming toward non-Russians they laity are rather cool. But both lay and clergy among Copts are affectionate and hospitable. Their non-attachment to Arabic is a big plus for evangelization I’m the West whereas Eastern European churches remain largely hung up on their ancient liturgical languages. I’m sure there are plenty of problems in the Coptic Church but I have great hopes for their ability to reach out to communities of color in the West where we have largely failed.
but I have great hopes for their ability to reach out to communities of color in the West where we have largely failed.
DeleteEastern Orthodoxy has a strong Slavic or Hellenist flavor, depending, whereas Coptic is Egyptian. Not African, but my perception is it's considered close enough for African-Americans who do convert. There's also the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
As always, ecclesia is downstream from culture.
those who focus on the externalities many times have missed the internatilies --- as one now departed clergy pillar of orthodoxy in america once commented to me, " if they have unkempt beards, pony tails, chotkii on their wrists, and take on an accent, they have lost the meaning of what true orthodox christianity is. they are trying to prove what they are by their external visage but not by their internal vocation,
ReplyDeleteA wonderfully explanatory video. I"m a Western Christian(Anglican) but I do have an incredibly strong affinity for the Copts. One of the most ancient Christian churches that has survived much persecution. I pray for that we may all be one and I really pray that the Orthodox family can come back together.
ReplyDeletea personal friend rev dr john watson was the emissary of the anglican churh to the copts,, he wrote tow exellent books on them -- you may want to check them out
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