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...
Between the verbiage and the poster, you would think one would have a clue as to what this is all about. Between the provocative "Who Teaches Our Children" and the vague sentence "Bishop Paul’s vision with regard to the centrality of the family in the life of the Church." I admit I am at a loss however.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who thinks Rod Dreher got more right than wrong in his book The Benedict Option, I would be interested in what I think this effort/website & organization/Bishop Paul are shooting for here.
On the other hand, if they can't communicate better than this I have reservations that they are the folks to lead...
Better question:What are my children being taught? The who should always be the parents as primary.
ReplyDeleteAs one who (25 years ago) got a personal telephone call from the head of the education department at my Archdiocese on a Saturday morning to tell me my wife and I (or any parent) were totally incompetent to teach anything to our own child especially on matters of the faith I am suspicious of any top down approach.
Now if they would ask one question: What can we do to help and support your efforts to tradition the faith to your children? I would listen to that.
"Now if they would ask one question: What can we do to help and support your efforts to tradition the faith to your children? I would listen to that. "
DeleteYep, and this is one of Rod's (and by implication others such as Fr. Stephen Freeman) central points: Secularism has so infected, formed and shaped, and otherwise replaced a Christian mind about God, man, and creation *within our very own "Orthodox" parishes* that you as a believer or parent simply can not take for granted the Christianity of those who would teach/catechize.
Perhaps this is what the provocative "Who Teaches Our Children" is referencing?
There are several questions more, of "what" is taught, "who" teaches, and, not least,
ReplyDelete"how" it is taught. Elder St. Porphyrios says to be an Orthodox Christian one must be a "poet" in a broad but unmistakable sense; it is not a stretch at all the adapt this to be particularly an Orthodox teacher, one must first be a "poet", that is, poetic. Virtually all our teaching is liturgical, in the services, that is, which are of course literary, poetic, spirit. Nothing will kill any subject in the curriculum faster than presenting them exclusively in the rational deductive method, with corresponding evaluation methods, which now dominates even the arts. One example: biology is the study of living things not dissection; and not matter such a cells that require a microscope to see before first knowing the names of trees, flowers, plants, and soils in the wholeness. Seems to me those with understandable complaints about even the invitation to such a webinar would do well to attend and post their thoughts at that time. God bless.
Good point James. St. Porphyrios is such a treasure is he not?
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