Sr. Vassa: There's no ontological impediment to priestesses
Is the male-only priesthood a discipline or essential to the nature of being a priest? Sr. Vassa (again unflinchingly taking up a contentious topic by climbing up the ladder to the highest platform and then jumping into the deep end head first) dives right in and says there is no reason beyond personal preference to not have female clergy. You know, when people ask me about women in priesthood, they say, 'Sister, why can't women be priests?' And I say, 'Women CAN be priests. We don't WANT them to be priests.' Because you see, God can do anything, and the Church, by divine authority, uh, can do anything, but, the Church doesn't want to - and that's a legitimate reason. What I don't like is when we TRY to pretend that there are other reasons for this, because it's legitimate not to want something, and there are reasons not to want this - right? - but, we shouldn't pretent that there's some... reason, that, for example, the maleness...
We'll be there!
ReplyDeleteI was there! Wore my St. Tikhon's seminary hoodie to stay warm and longed to see another Orthodox person, lay or clergy but only saw Catholic friends and prayer partners from my years before Orthodoxy...Praying someone else Orthodox was there! A privilege to pray the Akathist for one who has aborted a child and the Jesus Prayer at the late-term facility near Presby and then the Jesus Prayer at the Earl Cabell Federal Courthouse where Roe v Wade was filed 56 million holy innocents ago. Catholic priest Fr Kyle Walterscheid gave a compassionate, truth-filled homily worthy of Vladika Dmitri of blessed memory who once said re abortion, "We MUST do everything we can to save a life." We each touched a red rose to be placed by Fr Kyle on the courthouse steps and pledged, "I will always speak for life." Beautiful loving committed people in the crowd. A privilege and blessing to be there. Thanks to my 3 Orthodox friends confined indoors by age and health but beyond space and time in prayer for the event...They and my spiritual father WERE present invisibly...
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