"I am the door. By me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." - John 10:9 At every parish where I have had the pleasure of attending services, there is always a small group of people who find their way all the way up to the church building but don't actually attend services. At one parish it was a group of male gypsies who talked on cellphones or smoked cigarettes. At another it was a few Protestant husbands who, though they never attended services, opened the parish doors for people as they filed in. At yet another parish the men stood in the narthex and chatted until it was time to receive and then got in line. Latin or Greek Catholic, Eastern or Oriental Orthodox I see the same small throng of men standing next to the front door, but not standing, sitting, or kneeling amongst the people. If it were me (and I can only speak for myself here) this option would be an unsavory one. The boredom would be immediate. The anxiety of som...
My, how far we have come. 27 years ago when my late wife and I began homeschooling I was called by the then director of education for the Antiochian Archdiocese and told point blank that my wife and I were totally incompetent to teach our own child--not even about the faith.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful that intelligence, compassion and support for parents trying to exercise our duty to teach our children is now the way of things. God is good.
Fortunately, my Bishop and the priest if my parish did not feel the same way.
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