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 ...
My how the world doth change. When my late wife and I were homeschooling our son in Wichita, Ks as members of an Antiochean parish in 1993 we received a call at home fromon a Saturday morning from the head of the Antiochian Education Department and told in no uncertain terms that as patents we were totally unqualified to teach our own son. We should immediately stop and turn him over to qualified certified teachers in the public school system.
ReplyDeleteWe had to make our own Bible and religious curriculum which was based on a Protestant appropriately modified because there were no Orthodox materials. My son amazed everyone in Sunday School.
Still we were officially defective parents on the Archdiocese level.
Somethings are hard to forgive.
But with God all things are possible.
DeleteAstounding malicious arrogance is one of them. I am thankful for the change but the reprecusions from that attitude are still with us today.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you, sir. We experienced the same. As a priest I was routinely slandered because we home schooled and were faith centered. Our church has a long way to go.
DeleteThank you Father. Your kindness means a lot. I had not consciously thought of the insult in years. Seeing the poster brought it all back.
ReplyDeleteMy wife reposed some years ago but please pray for me and my son. May God bless your priesthood with abundant fruit.
I don't know if it helps Michael, but I have noticed a deep deep naivete among baby boomer and older Orthodox/trad Christians when it comes to the culture, education, "socialization", "qualifications", and home schooling. These older generation(s) generally were not honest with themselves about culture and Christianity, and were not even aware of their own "Christ and Culture" presuppositions.
ReplyDeleteHowever, these folks are aging/dying rapidly now, and many Orthodox/trad Christians under 50 are all too aware that easy "fitting in" assumptions of the older generation was and is a failure and sure way to guarantee the secularization and apostasy of our children. This is not to say that there are not too too many who still have their heads in the sand and are in fact much more interested in the American Way than the Gospel (even though they communion most Sundays). I wonder what percentage of regular Sunday Orthodox parents with children send their kids to the secular indoctrination machines called "public schools"? 80%? 90%? We have 7 families with school age kids in our small mission parish, and only 3 of us home-school/religious private school. That's 4 families who are doing the wrong thing, and justifying it in with sad and bemusing metal gymnastics.
I know it stings, but at least some of the jurisdictional "institutional church" is repenting of the first/second generation immigrant "Christ and Culture" Orthodox compromise...
Very good analysis Jake. We do reap what we sow.
DeleteNot at all relevant Jake, I don't think but cannot really comprhend what you are saying.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened was a naked power play and me and my family were seen as the soft under belly. If the guy was in a movie I would have found a horse head in my bed. That goes way beyond the dynamic I think you are suggesting. My family and I were not even the targets.
ReplyDeleteAt my parish we now have an Orthodox Academy moving toward K-12 eventually using a classical curriculum. We have had some really top drawer headmasters. Too late for my son unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteWe just moved from Irvine to Houston in May to go to the Saint Constantine School. They are open with students going back to school this fall. Also the Greek Cathedral is open and we go to church every Sunday. No nonsense there...
ReplyDeleteGood to hear positive ministry going on in the church.
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