OCA Wonder Blog

Here’s a new resource for teens from the OCA.

From the OCA website:

SYOSSET, NY [OCA] – “Asceticism and Discipleship” is the theme of the latest installment of the OCA’s young adult blog, “Wonder,” posted at www.ocawonder.com during the week before Christmas 2010.

Articles on the theme include “The Ascetical Life” by Archpriest Robert Arida, “The Church is Our Mother” by William Kopcha, “Remember Your Leaders” by Andrew Boyd, and “Asceticism and the Military Environment” by Priest Sean Levine.

“Wonder” was launched by the OCA’s Department of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry in February 2010 as a means of providing thought-provoking articles on topics touching young adults and college students and those who minister to them. The blog’s co-moderators are Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak and Andrew Boyd.

Readers are invited to submit articles, creative writing and artwork, poetry, photos, and videos for future installments. Suggested topics are always welcome. Send all materials and comments towonder@oca.org.

 

People To Pray for…

Sad news from the St. Innocent Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska.

Vandals hit Saint Innocent Cathedral here on Wednesday, June 9, 2010, pillaging the altar’s liturgical appointments and burning pages of the Gospel Book. Several other items were stolen.

According to media reports, the suspects entered through windows in the back of the cathedral some time between midnight and 11:00 a.m. Wednesday.

“The Gospel that was thrown and ripped that we use during the Gospel reading and the hand cross that we use was totally destroyed, cannot be used again,” Father Peter Chris told KTUU Channel 2 News, adding that while the break-in was not the first at the cathedral, it was the worst.

The letter written by Bishop Benjamin is a convicting revelation of the Christ-like response we must have towards our enemies.

“It is with great sadness that I have to report the Cathedral of Saint Innocent in Anchorage was broken into the night before last and the altar pillaged and violated. Yesterday, I received a tearful call from Father Peter Chris who came to the Cathedral to find the altar in shambles. Many of the items in the altar were senselessly and shamefully damaged and defaced for no apparent reason. Several items were stolen. The reserved sacrament is intact, as are the relics and the antimensions. But, the Gospel Book on the main altar had pages torn out of it and showed signs that the vandals tried to burn them. The police have investigated and are on top of things.

“We are grateful to God that more damage was not done and that no one was hurt. Please pray for the souls of the people who committed this crime against God and His Church. The condition of the Cathedral, in a very sad way, reflects the spiritual destruction and damage that exists in a human soul that would do such a thing. How truly sad it is that a human being, brought into being by God for no other reason than to share His incomprehensible, divine love, a human being created in His image could mar and deface that image in such a terrible way.

“What is lost or damaged in the Cathedral are only material things. The damage we human beings do to our own souls is much more serious. This should also be a reminder to us all that in this evil age, we need to be methodical about securing our churches from such desecration by mindless, fallen men.”

Pentecost and Power

Pentecost is a divine feast that reminds us of the importance of us mere humans.  The characteristics of the Uncreated Trinity —  power, immortality, and omnipotence — are shown to be nearer to us than we like to imagine.  Because of the revelation of the Spirit in Pentecost, we are shown that the Christian life is one of power and awe.  There are many things that hold us back from embodying that reality, two of which are cowardice and humility.  We either fear the Spirit will act through us, or we don’t want Him to.

If you have six minutes, listen to this podcast by Dr. Brad Nassif. Once you’re done with that, check out the AFR collection page filled with Pentecostal goodies.

Calling OCA youth!

The OCA’s official youth blog is looking for contributions from Orthodox youth. They’re looking for articles, artwork, creative writing, etc.  Think about anything you might want to contribute!

Since making its debut at www.ocawonder.com February 26, 2010, the OCA’s young adult blog, “Wonder,” is already averaging 300 hits per day.

Accessible at www.ocawonder.com, the blog was launched by the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry. Its content is geared toward providing thought-provoking articles on a variety of topics touching young adults, college students, and those who minister to this age group.

The blog’s first installment explored the theme, “Engaging Modern Atheism,” and featured articles by Father Sean Levine, Andrew Boyd, and Logan Johnson.

“Capital Punishment” will be the theme of the second installment, slated to appear on March 25, while the April 25 installment, “Help My Unbelief,” will explore the topic of faith and doubt.

Readers are invited to submit articles, creative writing and artwork, poetry, photos, and videos for these and future installments. Suggested topics for subsequent installments are also welcome. Send all materials and comments to wonder@oca.org.

Every month, “Wonder” will feature four articles on a specific theme, blending theological and academic insights with practical ideas for ministry, according to co-moderators Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak and Andrew Boyd.

To subscribe to “Wonder,” log on to www.ocawonder.com

The Cross and Those Who Suffer

From our friend Rod Dreher’s blog:

Today is the Sunday of the Cross for Orthodox Christians, the Sunday of Lent in which we are supposed to consider the full gravity of what it meant when Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” At liturgy today, Father did not give a sermon, which I thought odd. After communion, though, he introduced a guest homilist:Nathan Hoppe, an Orthodox missionary to Albania. I instantly recognized his name, because Frederica Mathewes-Green had asked us five or six years ago to pray for Nathan’s wife Lynette, who was dying of cancer. Her suffering and death had been saintly, as I recalled from memory (her former pastor in Chicago, Father Pat Reardon, writes of attending her in Albania as she died in 2006).

Nathan stood before the congregation and said that “taking up the cross” does not mean bearing daily indignities and sufferings with a sweet and serene spirit. It means embracing one’s death, because the cross is an instrument of execution. Nathan did not mention his late wife in his homily, but everyone there knew what this man had lived through, and they knew where his words came from. Of course I was thinking about my sister Ruthie, and her struggle with cancer; I always am. Earlier that morning, as I approached the communion chalice, I prayed once again to Christ to show mercy on her and to heal her. I felt in my heart the words, “I am.” I have been trying to reconcile myself to the truth that whatever Ruthie is suffering now, and whatever she has to suffer, is allowed by God for his greater glory, and for her spiritual healing. But it’s hard. She’s now lost all her hair from the chemotherapy — but my mother said on the phone today that she and Daddy were surprised by how beautiful Ruthie’s face is; Ruthie has always had such thick, lustrous hair that they hadn’t noticed the beauty of the bones in her face.

Anyway, as we listened to Nathan speak, Julie whispered in my ear, “Rod, this is not a coincidence that he’s here today.”

I was able to speak with Nathan briefly after services, and I told him about Ruthie. He said to me, “You know, when Lynette was first diagnosed, we were all praying so hard for her healing. It seemed like the more we prayed, the sicker she got. It made no sense. Then it finally became clear that He was healing her — just not in the way we wanted, or expected.”

Read the whole thing here.

Sleeping at Last

From about 2004 or so I’ve been a big fan of the Chicago based band Sleeping at Last. Their music is gripping, and ranges from intense and hard to slow and melodic.  They also have some of the most thoughtful lyrics I’ve heard in a long, long time. They’re newest album, Storyboards, centers around The Problem of Evil.

Unlike most bands, I find I can listen to SaL for months on end without getting burnt out on them.  Their first legitimate album Ghosts has been off and on my playlists for years.  I think this testifies to their depth.

On Sunday we’ll be listening to their song “Envelopes” from Keep No Score. If you get a chance, listen to the song, read the lyrics, and come prepared to share you’re insight with the rest of us.

The lyrics are posted below the break

Fr. Pat Reardon: “I wonder if there will be any Orthodox in heaven”

Why would a universally respected Orthodox priest say that?  Because in this wonderful sermon he points out that how us Orthodox go through Lent is often for our damnation, and not for our deification.

Fr. Pat Reardon — Beginning Lent

According to him, we tend to go through Lent as if we are Jews, not as if we are Christians. We fast so we can fast and pray.  And we fast and pray as a time of preparation.  We prepare for the coming of the Resurrection of Our Lord, and the reception of catechumens into the Church.

Historically Lent was the time when people were baptized into the Body of Christ; and because the Body is a whole, everyone in the Body fasted.  And prayed.

When we judge our neighbor we are doing the most harmful thing for the Body, which means that our fasting is counter-productive.

Which is why Fr. Pat said what he said.