Orthodoxy American Style?

Orthodoxy American Style? April 6, 2006

Here follows a few excerpts from a worthy piece written by Fr Aris Metrakos of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Columbia, SC.

HT: OrthodoxyToday & thanks to FWD from a blog reader.

The Next Triumph of Orthodoxy

Another Sunday of Orthodoxy has come and gone. Anyone who bothered to attend a Pan-Orthodox vesperal celebration of the final victory over iconoclasm and the accomplishments of the seven Ecumenical Councils — and by all accounts, most American Orthodox stayed home — was treated to the standard Lenten fare: a group of clergy that looked more like they were ready to saddle up and rescue Frodo Baggins than they were to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, a congregation that resembled a Fellini film, and a sermon filled with self-aggrandizing rhetoric.

After the obligatory pot-luck reception, the ethnic Orthodox packed-up their “Lenten cheese-pies” and climbed into their luxury sedans and SUV’s so that they could go out for some “real food.” Some converts wondered why they gave up Amazing Grace for the Dismissal Hymn of St. Mark (aren’t they both in third tone, after all?). Other converts dutifully wrapped-up their head coverings before scarfing down the remaining strawberries dipped in dairy-free chocolate. Everyone felt a little-bit better about the “Triumph of Orthodoxy”, the prospects for Orthodox unity, and the inevitability of “Making America Orthodox.”

But what is it all for?

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Everyone is guilty of this mission creep. Some Orthodox want to preserve their ethnic identity, others the glory of Byzantium or Mother Russia. There is the pietism of prostrating super-Orthodox and the petulance of the president of the parish organization who has been told by the priest that there really is a Nativity Fast. We produce DVD’s, CD-ROM’s and Websites with ease. In all of our busyness, we forget that Jesus Christ called us to “make disciples of all nations” and to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.

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American Orthodoxy needs mission priests, not married monastics.

For their own part, when it comes to the way priests in America are treated, the laity needs to wake up and smell the incense. During the course of his ministry, every priest will suffer withering attacks from people who “do not like him.” These assaults will take the form of phone calls to hierarchs, anonymous letter-writing campaigns, and petition drives …

Go H E R E . . . for the whole thing.


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