Orthodixie

This week’s podcast, An Orthodixie In That Toddlin’ Town, comes to you “live” and edited from Christ the Savior Church (OCA) in Chicago.

Part One deals with imagining, pondering, and questioning.

We’ll eventually tackle (or, at least, tickle) the following topics:

The relevance of the Orthodox Church in society today.

What makes the traditions of the Church so important today?

What is wrong with shorter services, less emphasis on confession and communion, less time in church?

How can the Orthodox Church even survive in the United States?

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Images: top – Me during lecture; bottom – Me going through security’s x-ray at Midway.

Full disclosure: The main reason my son and I were in Chicago last weekend was for me to speak at Christ the Savior Orthodox Church.

While there, we were the guests of Fr John Baker and stayed in “the Residence” — a building beside the church where Fr John and his family live; where the late Archbishop JOB resided; and which also serves as the Parish Hall.

I ended my previous post by saying, “Next: A boy named Sue”. Upon reading the post my son asked: “What’s that about?” (Seems not only Johnny Cash worried over the scenario.) I said, “It’s about the dinosaur — since they don’t know if it was male or female.”
The source of Sue’s name.

A boy not named …

Sue!

My son: former space alien, future geologist.

Christ the Savior is a beautiful …

… beautiful church, situated across from Moody Bible Institute.

A friend called while I was there and asked about the church, I said: “It looks like the Anglicans and the Orthodox had a war and the Orthodox won!”

Fr John encourages the faithful, following my presentation. (Books anyone?)

Of course, the reason Young Man was invited to Chicago by Dad was for these …

… and these; he loves Legos, model building, and tall buildings.

I‘m just glad to be able to sneak in a little more religion while I still have the chance.

The fact that he still loves to serve the altar, even while traveling …

Priceless.

… on a Mission from God.

What makes a kid go from looking like this …

… to this?

Hanging with these guys, no doubt.

Aha! This is the “God part” (third from right).

And yet, on closer examination …

… but not to be found in Sears’ catalog anymore.

No, not that …

Ah, yes. Mission accomplished — in LEGOS!

A view from BFKAST (Building Formerly Known as Sears Tower).

Out on the glass ledge.

Dad wears goofy shoes.

Next: A boy named Sue.

Time, once again, to dig into the big bag of letters from Ancient Faith listeners …

First off, this letter from a listener in Colorado:

Dear Fr Joseph,

I was shocked recently to learn that a new survey was just released which stated the number of Orthodox Christians in the United States is drastically lower than I’d previously been led to believe.

Last I’d heard, there were a couple million American Orthodox Christians. Now I hear that, counting the so-called NonChalcedoneon Christians there’s only a little over a million of us –with only 280,000 regularly attending church.

I write you in hopes that you can clarify the matter for me: Just how many Orthodox Christians ARE there in America?

— Dumbfounded in Denver

The next letter comes from the upper Northwest:

Dear Fr Joseph,

I have just about had it with some of the people in my church! We used to all be “on the same page of music” when it came to pious acts in church. We were mostly Converts; all of us wanting to do the right thing.

I mean, Orthodoxy does mean RIGHT WORSHIP, right?

Now we’ve had a sudden influx of Cradle Orthodox ethnic types – some Palestinians, some Ukrainians, some Greeks and such – and it seems that chaos reigns!

As a Convert, I feel kinda goofy asking, but: How can we teach these life-long Orthodox Christians how to, well, worship RIGHT?

Sincerely,

— Brendan George in Washington State

Our next letter is from Terry in Topeka, who writes:

Dear Fr Joseph,

I recently visited an Orthodox church for the first time and really enjoyed it. However, I’m confused. Although I understand that, not being Orthodox and all, I cannot receive Holy Communion — but, when someone else returned from receiving Communion they gave me a small little block of bread and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Giver of Bread receiving the Evil Eye from some of those nearby.

I wasn’t sure whether to eat it or not.

Not knowing if I did the right thing, I’ll keep my actions to myself.

But, please, what’s the deal with this bread?

In Christ,

— Terry in Topeka

To find the answers (or, at least, some answers) click here:

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

Image Source

While preparing a talk on Mary the Mother of God for the recent Pilgrimage, I came across some good stuff from Dr George Gabriel’s book, Mary the Untrodden Portal of God.

Check this out:

From eternity, God provided for a communion with His creation that would remain forever. In that communion mankind would attain to the eternal theosis for which it was made. The communion, of course, is the Incarnation through the Ever-Virgin. Mankind’s existence and, therefore, that of all creation is inexorably tied to Mary because she was always to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word. The fathers say that neither the course of human events nor necessity of any kind forced the Uncreated One to join to Himself a creaturely mode of existence. God did not become flesh because some actions of the devil or of man made it necessary, but because it was the divine plan and mystery from before the ages. Despite the works of Satan and coming of sin into the world, the eternal will of God was undeterred, and it moved forward.

History and the course of human events were the occasion and not the cause of the Incarnation. The Incarnation did not take place for the Crucifixion; the Crucifixion took place so that the Incarnation and the eternal communion of God and man could be fulfilled despite Satan, sin, and death. Explaining that there was no necessity in God the Father that required the death of His Son, St Gregory the Theologian says the Father “neither asked for Him nor demanded Him, but accepts [His death] on account of the economy [of the Incarnation] and because mankind must be sanctified by the humanity of God.” St Gregory is telling us that, from before the ages, it was the divine will for mankind to be sanctified and made immortal by communion with the humanity of the Incarnate God, but corruptibility and death came and stood in the way. By His Passion and Resurrection, Jesus Christ destroyed these obstacles and saved, that is, preserved, mankind for the Incarnation’s eternal communion of the God-Man and immortal men. St John of Damascus repeats the same idea that the Incarnation is a prior and indeed ontological purpose in itself, and that redemption is the means to that end. Thus, he says the Holy Virgin “came to serve in the salvation of the world so that the ancient will of God for the Incarnation of the Word and our own theosis may be fulfilled through her.“

Note: Italics in the original, bold & underline – mine.

SOURCE: Mary the Untrodden Portal of God by George S. Gabriel, pp.97-98.

Image – The blessing of Pilgrims prior to the Procession into the church by His Grace, Bishop BASIL, the Rt Rev’d Archimandrite Daniel Keller, and the faithful (10/16/10).