Orthodox Reflections

Effectively greeting guests in our parishes is essential for evangelism. Good hospitality does not happen by accident, but requires the parish to plan ahead and treat greeting as a ministry. Here are some suggestions.
https://sharethefaith.net/effective-ideas-about-greeting-visitors-to-orthodox-parishes/

Did you ever wonder why abortion is so important to the powers of this world? There are multiple reasons, of course. It is a form of human sacrifice that is pleasing to the demons. Abortion has been supported by eugenicists who wished to rid the world of “sub humans”. Abortion is a form of population control, making it an important tool for those who fear overpopulation. Feminists believe abortion is essential to female empowerment. If “burdened” by babies, women won’t necessarily go out and work for soulless corporations. They might stay home in “comfortable concentration camps” instead and raise healthy offspring. Not surprisingly, that is exactly why soulless corporations support abortion to the point they are willing to pay for them. Feminism is good for corporate bottom lines. Sadly for both the feminists and the corporations, the younger generation of women seems to be figuring out how badly they were played.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/how-to-fight-for-life-in-the-post-roe-world/

A new parish dedicated to witnessing to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ transcended their thinking by offering:

Worship exclusively in the English language;
An open Christian environment for the unchurched Orthodox, unsettled Orthodox, newcomer to the church, but mostly to attract the large number of “mixed marriages” not in the church;
Providing dynamic Christian education for youth and adults;
Becoming a resource center for Orthodox Christian literature;
Strengthening everyone’s relationship with our Lord and one another.
https://sharethefaith.net/the-important-factors-in-mission-founding/

Share the Faith is now supporting an Antiochian Western Rite priest in Central Florida.
https://sharethefaith.net/fr-cassian-dunlop-of-st-andrew-the-apostle-antiochian-orthodox-church-in-eustis-fl/
@westernorthodox
#westernrite #orthodoxchurch

For the Corinthians—and us as well—, the Apostle lays a solid foundation that connects the Eucharist with unity among the brethren and the sacredness of the human body; his terminology bridges all three. For recent converts who knew nothing other than pagan Corinthian culture, this would have been a steep climb for sure.

St Paul speaks of three substantiations of the Corporate Christ we must pay attention to. All three are connected as a unity of Christ. This—I believe—is the issue God is putting His finger on during this epoch. Let us look at all three.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/rightly-discerning-the-body-corporate-christ/

They sustained a mission for over 5 years largely with only readers services. They have a store front parish, and even carved their own iconostasis. They have a shot now with a full-time missionary priest - Fr. Mark. Can you support Orthodox missions?
https://sharethefaith.net/fr-mark-hodges-from-st-brendan-the-voyager-in-bullhead-city-az/

If we want to banish evil from our nation, the place we start is not under the Peace Tower of our national Parliament, and not the dictator’s residence at Sussex Drive – it must start in our hearts, through the Holy Mystery of Confession. https://orthodoxreflections.com/canadas-spiritual-crisis-a-report-from-the-front-lines/

A well-known and esteemed American priest recently spoke on the topic of the use of appropriate terminology for describing Orthodox clergy, both priests and bishops. Since many issues from secular society present themselves in the life of the Church, it has also become common to use secular labels (all too familiar in political discourse) to describe views expressed by the clergy. This priest was pointing out, quite wisely, that while it is certainly appropriate and necessary for the Church and Her clergy to speak to many political issues which face Orthodox faithful, the political labels of “conservative” and “liberal” do not in fact have any meaning in the Orthodox Church. https://orthodoxreflections.com/conservative-vs-liberal-clergy/

Orthodoxy has the most beautiful Churches, vestments, liturgies, and hymns of any Christian body. Orthodoxy combines all that with fasting, ascetic discipline, a commitment to holiness, love, unabashed proclamation of timeless truth, and the protection of the weak, even at the cost of one’s own mortal existence. There are many things worse than physical death. Orthodoxy is the perfect environment in which to raise boys into what one priest recently called examples of “beautiful masculinity”.

Orthodox is also highly attractive to men searching for all of the things above in a world that provides none of them. Orthodox priests all over the country are reporting that not only is Church attendance up overall, but many of the new people showing up are young men, by themselves, with no previous Christian background. These young men want to learn how to be real men, and so have turned to the Orthodox Church to find out how. This trend has even led one priest, Fr. Hans Jacobse, to found an organization called the St. Paisios Brotherhood to assist in mentoring and helping these young men. https://orthodoxreflections.com/raising-warriors-for-christ/

People who represent wealthy, influential organizations like the Luce Foundation love to tell us we are imagining a plot to infiltrate the church with far-left ideology while also telling us right to our face on their own websites that they are doing exactly that. There are so many other examples of characters within this network pushing obvious progressive-left agendas inside Orthodoxy, that this would turn into a book if I cited even half of them.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/how-big-foundation-money-is-subverting-traditional-christianity/

Fr. Adam Sexton is a treasure. He has 11 kids, a parish, and a new mission he started. In this video, he talks about how attendance and giving are up during the Pandemic. He also gives you insight on how priests often work to make ends meet.
https://youtu.be/ejekH_q9scQ

I’m hoping to have your help in spreading the word! A former Orthodox Church building in Middlebrook, VA has come up for sale. It was vacated 10 yrs ago when the former All Saints of North America ROCOR congregation moved 50 miles north to Harrisonburg and became Holy Myrrhbearers. The building sold at auction then for $15k and it has stood empty. There are beautiful frescoed icons still on the walls and an intact iconostas as well as a 3bar cross on the cupola. I and another priest visited the spot a week ago and it is our hope to rescue it by purchasing it and preventing it from becoming an Airbnb (or worse)! – This charming spot should remain an Orthodox building and it’s purpose for now would ideally be as a Chapel for special use dedicated to the most Holy Theotokos. Maybe one day a congregation may develop there too.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/help-a-priest-rescue-a-beautiful-orthodox-church-building/

Forty Nine years and five months since the satanic SCOTUS decision, which legalized the cold blooded murder of the most innocent of God’s living ikons of Himself, our Most Sweet Lord Jesus – not the six Supreme Court Justices – has brought an end to the ungodly judgment that turned a mother’s life-preparing womb into a life-destroying tomb for 63 million pre-babies. Yes, beloved ones, I firmly believe that our Lord and Saviour chose the day on which that decision would be made official. For as the Blessed Elizabeth exclaimed to our Most Beloved Panaghia: “For behold, as the sound of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe in my womb leaped in exultant joy [1:44].” The Holy Forerunner, confirmed within his mother’s womb, that they were in the presence of their Saviour, the world’s Saviour, Who was in the womb of His Ever-virgin Mother. What more appropriate day could there have been, my dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, to remind everyone that the Holy Spirit Himself spoke in behalf of the voiceless ones — forever! O great mystery! https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-end-of-roe-v-wade-is-the-beginning-of-the-fight-for-life-not-the-end/

Pathologist Dr (Paisios) Michael Robles, D.O. is a Texan, an Orthodox Christian, and thus a man of integrity. Currently a Medical Director of Ariana Sciences, he has over 30 years of experience in biomedical sciences and pathology.

During his talk, Dr. Paisios addressed many aspects of COVID and the so-called “vaccines”. In his highly-educated opinion, the jabs were not properly tested, are not effective, and under no circumstances should be given to children. Dr. Paisios makes clear, there is no possible benefit to children, only possible harm.

This video will be the most important 12 minutes you spend today.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/follow-the-real-science-on-covid-vaccines-for-children-with-dr-paisios/

Death played a large role in my eventual conversion to Orthodoxy. Raised Evangelical, I had witnessed my own grandparents pass away with no preparation. They languished in their hospital beds, trying to pray as best they could. Their pastor came to visit them in the last few weeks, but all he did was pray for their healing and leave as quickly as possible. There was no confession, no prayer for the separation of the soul from the body, no wisdom on what to expect as their time came. As their final hours approached, our family simply gathered in hospital hallways and waited for the end. No incense, no candles, no prayers, no icons. Nothing to inspire, to comfort, to give hope of the Resurrection. Just hushed grief and a sense of dread at the approach of the unknown.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-dead-are-in-great-need-of-our-help/

Greenism, Marxism, COVIDism, Critical Race Theory, Transgenderism, Veganism, Human Extinctionism, Transhumanism, and additional ideologies all function as religions in the same way. There is a priesthood, there is dogma which you may not question, there are enemies despoiling the Garden of Eden, there is sin, there is sacrifice / atonement, there is approved “art”, and there is even a path of salvation to gain their versions of the Kingdom of Heaven. Powerful elites support these religions as their anti-human dogmas always require force to enact them. More force equals more power which equals more wealth and control for those in charge. https://orthodoxreflections.com/all-political-ideologies-are-incompatible-with-orthodox-christianity/

Fear of death is at the heart of our societal dysfunction. Fear of death drove normal people to embrace radical COVID restrictions, even on the operation of the Church. Fear of death drove many to accept unproven, mRNA injections and to force the same on others against their will. Fear of death saw the elderly die alone, untended. Fear of death harmed our Christian witness, as we, unlike our Christian forebears, turned our backs on our brothers and sisters in need. Orthodox Christians went along with everything the public health establishment demanded. It is clear that even the elite transhumanist movement is driven by rich people being afraid to die.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/let-no-one-fear-death-orthodox-christian-leaders-respond-to-the-covid-19-challenge/

While our entire society is crashing, the ruling Archbishop of the most important Orthodox jurisdiction in America has access to the White House. He has access to power. Does he soberly embrace his responsibility to advocate for the common American? The poor who are flooding food banks with requests for aid? Many of whom never needed any assistance before? Not at all. He gets photographed at the White House yucking it up like a man without a care in the world. The caption of this picture could easily be, “Let them eat cake!” https://orthodoxreflections.com/orthodox-episcopal-aloofness-with-a-side-of-cake/

This war needs to end. Immediately. We are risking nuclear escalation. We are risking the entire economic future of the West. We are risking starvation. This is not our war. Average Americans are not gathering around the water cooler to talk about the war. Rather, they are gathering to complain about gas prices, their falling 401k values, and starving infants who need formula. To the extent average Americans talk about the war, it is to complain about all the money Congress is sending to Ukraine while our nation struggles. The news that Congress appropriated $240 million dollars specifically to provide food for Ukrainians, while hunger explodes at home, was particularly galling for many Americans. Revolutions have started over less. https://orthodoxreflections.com/in-defense-of-anonymous-speech-online-and-the-freedom-to-oppose-the-war-in-ukraine/

So, what does Yousef do? She finds a link between Russia and ROCOR in the United States to see if she can sniff out white supremacism in that little denomination. After all, it carries the name Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. “Of course, that’s where I’m bound to find white supremacy and skinhead racism!” she must have exclaimed to herself. “Let’s discredit both Russia and the Orthodox Church in one single shot.” As you will see in her article, she found anecdotal evidence of far-right white political extremism and anti-black racism to dish up to unsuspecting readers. Using individual incidents to make a general case is something that I would call yellow journalism. Wouldn’t you? https://orthodoxreflections.com/nprs-miss-extremist/