Orthodixie

With all the talk about “Swine Flu” (H1N1) and other communicable diseases, the question arises: “Can I get sick from the Chalice?” There is a one word answer to this, but more on that later. First, a few words about those who should not receive Holy Communion …

+ If you are Orthodox and not taking your spiritual life seriously;

+ If you are not living a life of faith and repentance;

+ If you have not been faithful in prayer in and worship;

+ If you refuse to forgive someone;

+ If you have not fasted;

+ If you have not made an honest effort to prepare yourself to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ;

If any of the above is the case:

You should not approach the chalice without first making a sincere confession. In reference to Holy Communion, St Paul writes: “For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks condemnation to himself”
(1 Corinthians 11:29).

Living a life of repentance means that you are making an honest effort to refrain from sin: fighting against temptations and the lusts of the flesh, abstaining from all sexual relations outside the Sacrament of Marriage, refraining from the poison of lies, gossip, cursing, and slander, avoiding excessive drinking, drug use, and other bad habits. It also requires that one be striving to better oneself spiritually, attending services regularly, confessing one’s sins, and making peace with one’s enemies.

To sum up: Receiving communion means we are living our life in Jesus Christ.*

According to Saint Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (11:30), many of the people who received Communion in an unworthy manner would become weak, sick, or even would die. In the St John’s Gospel, we hear our Lord say to the Paralytic: “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you” (John 5:14). We see a strong agreement between Jesus and St. Paul on how sin and illness are correlated. It is not the Body and Blood of Christ which is a vehicle for illness, but our own human tendencies to fall into sin. The H1N1 virus and many other incurable viral diseases (HIV, the flu, herpes, cold sores, etc) are in existence because of the fall of humanity and our insistence to remain fallen in sin.

Can I get sick from the Chalice?

The answer is, simply, no.

We should not worry about transmission of germs through common use of sacred vessels that have held and touched “the divine, holy, pure, immortal, heavenly, life giving, and awesome Mysteries of Christ, let us worthily give thanks to the Lord” (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom). Further, Saint John in his Gospel quotes Jesus saying “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal LIFE…” (John 5:54). Why would something that is LIFE-giving be the carrier of something that causes disease and death? **

Besides, after everyone else receives Holy Communion, the priests and deacons consume the remainder of the chalice. The clergy, therefore, would be the recipients of a host of germs – from everyone! Yet, in truth, that which is in the consecrated chalice is the very Body and Blood of the Physician of our souls. He has trampled down death by death, and upon us, His faithful children, He has bestowed Life!

We can, however, get sick from contact with each other!

Take precautions:

+ Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

+ Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

+ Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

+ Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

+ If you are sick with flu-like illness, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible. This is to keep from making others sick.

+ While sick, limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

+ Visit the CDC website to find out what to do if you get sick with the flu and how to care for someone at home who is sick with the flu.

———————–

* – Taken from the May ‘09 issue of The Cathedral Messenger, St George Orthodox Christian Cathedral, Wichita, Kansas.

** – Taken from: The Quiet Revolution

See also: This Side of Glory

Image of the Communion of the Apostles is taken from the website of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Washington, DC.

This article is taken from the quarterly newsletter, The Messenger, of St George Church.

A recent podcast, When God Ain’t Good Enough, scratched the surface of “the good” and our cheating disobedience. For further reflection, these two:

Thanks to Orthodoxy Today.

And this …

“We are so used to thinking of spirituality as withdrawal from the world and human affairs that it is hard to think of it as political. Spirituality is personal and private, we assume, while politics is public. But such a dichotomy drastically diminishes spirituality construing it as a relationship to God without implications for one’s relationship to the surrounding world. The God of Christian faith (I shall focus on Christianity although the God of the New Testament is also the God of the Old Testament) created the world and is deeply engaged in the affairs of the world. The notion that we can be related to God and not to the world–that we can practice a spirituality that is not political–is in conflict with the Christian understanding of God …”

Taken from Can we be good without God?

Read it all HERE.

Thanks to Rod Dreher.

O almighty and everlasting Father, King of kings and Lord of lords, Thou Who art the unfailing Protection of the faithful and the sure Hope of all who trust in Thee: As we mourn the sudden violence and deaths occasioned by the evil and barbarous attacks on our nation of September 11th, 2001 and celebrate the selfless heroism of the first-responders, we humbly beseech Thee to reveal unto us the immense power of Thine own goodness. Come swiftly to our aid, and have mercy upon all who call upon Thee. In Thy boundless compassion do Thou comfort those who mourn this day, bestow healing of body and soul to the survivors, and grant blessed repose in the bosom of Abraham to the souls of those departed this life. Vouchsafe unto us that peace which passeth all understanding that we may ascribe glory and thanksgiving unto Thee, together with Thine only-begotten Son and Thine all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

IMAGE: St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church minutes before it was crushed by the collapse of Two World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.

Courtesy of His Grace, Bishop BASIL, and the Clergy Brotherhood memo of 9/11/2008.

For updates & other info on St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, New York go HERE.

Back when I was in seminary, during the good ol’ days at Nashotah House in Wisconsin, we had two athletic contests each year – football & softball – both against another Episcopal seminary, Seabury-Western, in Chicago.

(PIC: That’s me, white hat backwards, back row, 7th from left; Fr Joseph Kimmet is 3rd from left, same row.)

Nashotah House, known far and wide for liturgics, is not known for her athletics. Additionally, my first year at seminary we were vexed by the fact the previous year marked the 9th in a row that Nashotah had lost the annual flag football contest to Seabury.

Long story short: It was 9 degrees on that November Wisconsin afternoon back in 1989, and – we won!

One footnote: We were set to receive the ball … the kick was up, the race was on … I ran, all 250 pounds of me, down the field and made good contact with my oncoming opponent. SHE went flying through the air; the only thing more spectacular was the giant moan that burst forth from the opposing team’s bleachers. Seabury had FEMALES playing on their football team.

(No, this is not Adam blaming Eve — that’s not why they lost. They lost because they came face to face, hear me clearly, with the fierce Nashotah House Fighting Tiger Lilies!)

Call me heartless, but hey … football’s football!

Also , at the risk of scandalizing you, I shall not dwell on how we …

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

P.S. — Nashotah, WI, August 17, 2009 – An ecumenical conference between scholars of the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox traditions will be held at Nashotah House Theological Seminary on October 8-10, 2009. Speakers will include the His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, Orthodox Metropolitan of All America and Canada, who is President of the St. Vladimir’s Board of Trustees, and the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, an alumnus of Nashotah House who is now Chancellor of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. The Conference is free and open to the public but advance registration is required.

More info — HERE.

Fr John Moses writes:
You should be with me on a Friday night when I walk into Wal-mart. Being a Russian priest, I am dressed in my black prodrasnik, ryassa and skufia (long robes with big sleeves and a black hat). With my long white hair and white beard, I am quite a sight. People have never seen anything like me.

The reaction can go something like this: “Hey, Bubba, take a look at that! Is that a woman?”

Of course, if I have a chance to talk to them, I try to make them feel more at ease with humor. Lifting up my cross, I tell them that I am a “cross dresser.”

That usually breaks the ice.

More … at Redneck Priest.

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