 bulletin_--_sunday_of_st._gregory_palamas__3_28_21_.docx
This Sunday we commemorate St. Gregory Palamas, and his teaching about the Uncreated Light of God's love which is available to all people through prayer and the life in Christ.
0 Comments
 bulletin_--_sunday_of_orthodoxy_3_21_21.docx
This Sunday we commemorate what is known in Orthodox contexts as "the Triumph of Orthodoxy." At the Seventh Ecumenical Council, the bishops and church leaders confirmed that icons (holy images of the saints, Christ, the Mother of God) are a valid expression of piety and devotion. That they can be windows into Heaven. We also celebrate the decisions of the first six ecumenical councils, and their contributions to the interwoven tapestry of our faith in Christ. This may seem a small decision on the surface. And if we think of it as only being about the icons themselves, it is indeed small. What is really being affirmed, though, is the power of Christ's incarnation. God became matter, material, so that the material world might be filled once again with God's light and life. The various councils prior to the seventh were also tied to the Incarnation, and towards our pursuit of an authentic relationship of love with Christ. How can we rightly rejoice in the glorious work of renewal, transformation and resurrection Christ has done for us? As we celebrate Christ's fulfillment of human potential, we celebrate our fellow human beings, living icons of God, who choose to confess their authentic selves. We also honor and support those who aren't yet able to fully do so, for a myriad of reasons. Whether visible or hidden, you are icons of Christ and you show forth the power and love of God in your body wherever you go. Be encouraged by this truth, and let your light shine as much as you are able. When we confess our authentic selves, we help one another to live here and now the life of the Resurrection.  Dear Friends,
It has come to our attention that our separated family in the Roman Catholic Church have recently released a statement from the Vatican which implies that same-sex unions cannot be blessed by Catholic priests. We expect that the grassroots work among affirming Catholic clergy will push the Magisterium towards a fuller understanding of the charism of LGBTQ Christians and their unions and marriages, but in the spirit of adelphic charity and concern for the spiritual welfare of LGBTQ Catholics, we wish to make it clear that we reject this statement as theologically unsound. The development of an authentic marriage rite for same-sex couples within the Catholic Church is a complex project which will doubtless require the insight of gifted theologians trained in Catholic thought. However, we as Eastern Christians feel that this statement from the Vatican does not reflect a fully catholic spirit. God is the author of our desire. Indeed, we are called to use our God-given eros to more deeply yearn for God and love one another that we may be transfigured by grace and deified. Same-sex eros is one manifestation of this spiritual gift, inasmuch as it bears the same spiritual fruit as heterosexual eros. Furthermore, the grace of God infuses all creation, and abounds powerfully where love abides between persons. To bless something, eg, a same-sex union, is not to somehow make something other than it is, but to offer that something up to God that God may return it to us in its full potential, offering grace upon grace. It is beyond our purview to evaluate the theology of the West which has developed after the Great Schism. However, it is clear that the ancient consensus of the undivided catholic Church does not hold to this arbitrary distinction of natural or unnatural things and whether they may have grace. Rather, we are called to receive grace through the created world, and to live into our deepest God-given eros to move from our present natural state to the angelic life, to theosis, to perfect and dynamic communion in love and freedom, to the fullness of our humanity in the life of the Kingdom of God. We wholeheartedly affirm that this journey is one that all Christians of goodwill can and do undertake, including especially the Church’s LGBTQ+ children, who know more than most what it is to pursue love and freedom in the midst of a fallen world that pushes us towards isolation and fragmentation. We urge our fellow hierarchs in the Roman church to re-examine their consciences and to reach out in solidarity to the Church’s LGBTQ+ flock, that the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit might show us what gifts they offer to the Body of Christ, and how we might bless those gifts with full reference to the Church’s sacramental life. To any and all LGBTQ+ Roman Catholic Christians who follow our page, know that we see you. We hear you. And we wish to honor you as brothers, sisters and siblings in Christ with the full dignity that is your birthright as baptized Christians. God speaks in your lives with power, grace, and truth. We make ourselves available in whatever way we can to support your calling, whether in singleness, relationship or matrimony. Only God-in-you can tell you how to walk your path as children of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, whatever branch. We are here as comrades in Christ, and want you to know that you are continually in our prayers. As we continue our respective journeys through Lent and Easter/Holy Pascha, may the abundant life of Christ shine forth for justice, love and freedom in our midst by the power of His glorious three-day Resurrection!  bulletin_--_cheesefare_sunday__3_12_21_.docx
This Sunday, the last day before the start of Great Lent, we commemorate the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden, and seek forgiveness from one another that we may begin our journey towards Pascha and the resurrection with a clean heart.  bulletin_--_meatfare_sunday__3_7_21_.docx
This Sunday we commemorate the Last Judgment, and the parable of the sheep and the goats. As we prepare for Great Lent and anticipate the Resurrection, the Church invites us to examine our hearts and to consider how we might reorient them towards God and towards the love of Christ in our neighbor. |
RSS Feed