Orthodox Reflections

The United States is the only thing keeping the Ukrainian Government of President Zelenskyy afloat. Only around 22 million or so Ukrainians are left in the country. The economy is completely destroyed. Only billions in aid each month from the United States keeps the bills paid and the government functioning. Ukraine is no longer so much a country as it is a US military colony. If the Zelenskyy regime is persecuting the UOC, then the United States approves of and supports it. That, of course, violates the American commitment to religious freedom and human rights. In fact, the US is backing actions in Ukraine that would be illegal at home under its own Constitution. How can the US defend such hypocrisy? https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-ukrainian-orthodox-church-suffers-with-christ/

We cannot sit back and expect to be spoon fed holiness. It is possible to sit (or stand, but especially while seated) in Church all of our life and not have learned one thing about holiness, if we are not willing to struggle and to suffer! Christ shows us the way, because He suffered voluntarily, for no good reason, just as we must do. “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.” Which means that He suffered willingly.

So how is it possible that we can attend church services all of our lives, and receive communion regularly, yet be largely clueless regarding our sole purpose as Orthodox Christians? We all know that this is not an uncommon phenomenon.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/what-is-holiness-from-the-orthodox-perspective/

There are many aspects of this article below, from Fr. Andrew in the UK, which we simply don’t know how to evaluate. Being in medicine, technology, law, academia, and other secular disciplines does not give one much experience in discerning prophecy. Even the priests who work with us kind of shrugged their shoulders after reading it. After a lot of discussion, we decided to go ahead and run it. Not only the mainstream press, but also many organizations related to the Ecumenical Patriarch, are relentlessly anti-Russian at the moment. The Russian Church is portrayed as a corrupt tool of the state. Russian society is criticized as being dysfunctional. At the same time, “democracy” has been elevated as the highest possible governing system – the veritable “end of history” as it were. https://orthodoxreflections.com/prophetic-views-after-world-war-three/

Bill S.686, also known as the RESTRICT Act, was introduced to the US Senate on March 7 of this year. It uses the purported dangers of TikTok as a trojan horse to usher in draconian Internet censorship. It also mentions the Russian Federation as an enemy combatant of the United States. The bill calls for the creation of a disinformation board. Should the board determine you are spreading disinformation, it calls for the confiscation of any tech suspected of use in the spreading of the “disinformation”. This includes your computer, phone, tablets, and more. The bill also has criminal penalties which include a $1 million fine and 20 years in prison. Read the bill for yourself. This bill can be very harmful for the Orthodox community in the United States. We need to spread the word about this threat.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-us-government-is-much-more-dangerous-than-tiktok/

#Nashville will happen again. Classical Marxism failed because the Proletariat were never much for revolution. They just wanted better lives for themselves and their children. Often being Christian, their true treasures were laid up in Heaven, eternally free of moth and rust. Even the poorest workers have always felt they had at least some interest in keeping society going. Not only did they feel themselves a part of that society, but most nurtured at least some hopes for their children’s futures. Such men are more likely to build than to destroy.

Using societal mutants as a revolutionary vanguard was actually pioneered by Vladimir Lenin. As a method it worked before.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/understanding-the-political-religion-of-woke/

The deadline is fast approaching for over 200 monks at the Kiev Petschersk Lavra, along with the students and faculty of the Kiev Theological Academy, to vacate the holiest site in Ukraine. This is the latest and greatest outrage committed against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the Ukrainian Government. While only God can know for sure what will shortly happen, we can take hope from one important change in the situation. Only a short time ago, most of the world was either ignorant of, or willfully ignoring, the persecution of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. Not any more. Whatever sick plans the Zelenskyy regime has for the holy monks of the Lavra, they will be carried out under the watchful gaze of the rest of the world. https://orthodoxreflections.com/president-zelenskyy-god-and-the-whole-orthodox-world-are-watching/

The Orthodox Reflections petition on the persecution in Ukraine is closing in on 5,000 signatures, while another petition drive just started in Italy targeted at the European Parliament. Please sign both!
https://orthodoxreflections.com/salviamo-l-accademia-teologica-di-kiev-dallo-sfratto/

The OCA in the west was utterly shut down in our diocese by Archbishop Benjamin. Fr David Morrison was perfect in his obedience to Archbishop Benjamin. We in the OCA were told not to celebrate the mysteries and allow access to the Liturgy for the vast majority of our people. That’s what Fr David did. We were told not to visit the sick, anoint the dying in hospitals and nursing homes. That is what Fr David did. We in the Diocese of the West were not allowed by our Archbishop to have direct contact with any of our people for any pastoral reason. This went on for months. https://orthodoxreflections.com/chaos-and-division-in-the-oca-diocese-of-the-west/

Ancient Faith Today with Fr. Tom Soroka Announces Upcoming Program with Share the Faith Director Fr. Evangelos Pepps!

Fr Thomas is joined by Fr Evangelos Pepps to talk about mission work. The Orthodox Church is still tiny in America. How can we share the faith effectively and establish more Orthodox missions? Text your comments and questions anytime to 412-206-5012 or give us a call during the live show beginning at 9:00 pm ET/8:00 pm CT on Tuesday, March 7 at 1-855-AF-RADIO! Listen via the Ancient Faith Radio app or at ancientfaith. com! https://orthodoxreflections.com/share-the-faith-director-to-be-featured-on-ancient-faith-radio-to-discuss-orthodox-missions-in-america/

Over 3,000 people have already spoken up against Christian persecution in Ukraine. Will you?

"Many government officials and commentators in Ukraine claim that the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a foreign church collaborating with Russia and undermining the Ukrainian war effort. These accusations fuel an increasing persecution that threatens to end with a complete ban on the UOC’s very existence. Local bans have already been enacted, and a vote on a national one is likely to happen soon. As an example of local persecution, at a meeting on March 2nd, 65 deputies of the Kiev City Council condemned the activities of the UOC, accusing the Church of a number of state crimes, and adopted a decision forbidding the UOC from holding events outside her churches. Further, relevant departments were instructed to check communal property and land used by religious organizations."

https://orthodoxreflections.com/end-the-unjust-immoral-persecution-of-the-ukrainian-orthodox-church/

Fast forward to 2019, now out in the civilian world, I found myself dealing with emerging technologies including traffic sensors, interactive public kiosks, autonomous vehicles, and drones as a public servant focused on Smart City initiatives in the City Hall of a major metropolitan area. Once again, I found myself concerned about how little the residents in that municipality knew about the hundreds of sensors surrounding them throughout their city blocks and selling their data to private entities, many to which even the city was unaware. More concerning was my discovery that city and county governments had very little public transparency in their Public Private Partnerships (P3s) and agreements with tech industries, emplacing so many potentially privacy-violating sensors amongst the people… and that was before learning of all the Smart City tech planning to be included in the new local airport! Interrogation of personal cell phones, facial recognition, license plate readers… all intrusive technologies. But the ones that seemed to concern citizens the most were facial recognition and autonomous drones prepositioned to respond to crimes, providing “eyes on” immediately after a crime was detected, through 911 calls or perhaps acoustic triangulation from technologies like ShotSpotter gunshot detection system.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/our-resignation-to-mass-surveillance/

Meditating on humility as essential to leading others to Christ is a very good use of time on the First Week of Lent. https://sharethefaith.net/humility-is-essential-for-true-faith/

The petition to stop Christian persecution in Ukraine has been signed by 1,584 people (many from Ukraine). We sent the petition this morning to all Patriarchates and all autocephalous Orthodox Churches.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/we-demand-an-end-to-the-silence-over-the-persecution-of-the-ukrainian-orthodox-church/

Share the Faith recently announced that it is accepting applications for priests to receive funding for 2023. We have copied the official notification below. We strongly recommend forwarding this information to any priests you know whose ministry might benefit from financial support. Further, we strongly recommend giving a donation, of any amount, to this worthy ministry. https://orthodoxreflections.com/share-the-faith-announces-grants-available-for-orthodox-clergy-in-missions-and-more/

So far, we have submitted the text of our petition (964 signatures & counting) to 24 Orthodox, Catholic, and human rights orgs plus some journalists and individual bishops. Please recommend politicians, Senators, Reps, or other organizations we should submit the petition to. Thank you!
https://orthodoxreflections.com/we-demand-an-end-to-the-silence-over-the-persecution-of-the-ukrainian-orthodox-church/#orgs

We have started to send the results of our Petition to Stop Christian Persecution in Ukraine. The petition has been signed over 600 times.

Petition to End the Silence on Christian Persecution in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is the canonical church in Ukraine headed by Metropolitan Onuphry. Prior to the war, approximately 70% of the population of Ukraine belonged to the UOC. Ukrainians overwhelmingly supported their Church, despite having been subjected to politically motivated persecution for many years. The violations of human rights directed at Orthodox Christians in Ukraine have included: forcible seizure / closure of parishes, unlawful arrests, physical abuse, abusive searches of holy sites, desecrations of holy objects, intentional targeting of parishes and holy sites for military attack, and acts of physical intimidation. Recently, local governments have banned the Ukrainian Church from even operating in their areas. President Zelensky of Ukraine has threatened to make this ban nationwide. The main churches of Kiev Caves Lavra have been removed from UOC jurisdiction, and schismatics have been allowed to use them for services.

We, the undersigned Orthodox Christians and allied Christians of good conscience, note three things. First, the situation in Ukraine is unjustified Christian persecution that violates all global norms. Second, the Ukrainian Government is wholly dependent on Western financial and military support for its continued existence. Therefore, Christians in the West bear a substantial responsibility to speak for the Ukrainian victims of persecution. Third, protests from official organizations matter more to those in power than collections of citizens.

Therefore, we signers of this petition call upon the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, all Orthodox jurisdictions in the West, all official Orthodox Christian ministries and institutions of higher education, all human rights organizations, the Roman Catholic Church, all other Christian bodies of good will, and any other concerned organizations to immediately draft statements decrying the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and demanding its immediate cessation. We cannot be silent in the face of Christian persecution enabled by our own governments. Please join us in ending the persecution of the Body of Christ in Ukraine.

For a list of organizations that have received the petition, a list of signatures, and the option to sign the petition, please visit this link:
https://orthodoxreflections.com/we-demand-an-end-to-the-silence-over-the-persecution-of-the-ukrainian-orthodox-church/

All parents, educators, health care professionals, law makers, policy makers, regulators and advocates of the LGBTQ+ movement need to properly, and without bias, inform themselves and take note of these three elephants in the room. For those who still cannot see them, the first elephant is over-reacting to a young child’s preferences, such as a boy who likes to play with dolls or a young girl who enjoys boys’ toys. This is normal behaviour in children and should not be over-interpreted to mean anything more. The second elephant is to not overlook the possibility of underlying mental illness or childhood trauma in someone whose childhood preoccupation becomes an obsession. Exploring, uncovering and treating a possible underlying mental health issue can lead to healing without more scarring from inappropriate or premature surgery of any kind. The third elephant is failing to recognize the undeniable importance of maturation, which is directly linked to human brain development. This takes patience and time – at least 25 years and more in certain populations. It is vital to allow a person the opportunity to grow fully before committing to invasive and life-altering medication or surgery that cannot be undone. https://orthodoxreflections.com/elephants-in-the-trans-gender-room/

The primary characteristic of modernity is Gnosticism. Modern Gnosticism is an inversion of ancient Christian Gnosticism and that of other ancient Near Eastern religions. Those equated evil with the material world, and devised various secret doctrines and rituals designed to spiritualize the world and existence as an escape from this material hell. Valentinus was the most prominent and influential Gnostic of the early Church. His teachings were critically examined and debunked by Irenaeus, and his doctrine formally repudiated by the Church. However, his legacy continued through the teachings of others, most notably Joachim of Flora, Hegel and their epigones. Their influence has been so extensive that if you attempt a philosophical, political or theological discussion today, with virtually any person on the planet, you will quickly discover that the other person’s ideas will be entirely grounded in Gnostic mythology. Modernity has become the most successful Gnostic myth in history. https://orthodoxreflections.com/gnosticism-is-the-root-of-modernity/

It is Woke dogma that LGBTQ+ individuals are marginalized. This is defined as “relegated to an unimportant or powerless position within a society or group”. LGBTQ+ have no power. They can never be aggressors, only holy and blameless victims of the oppression of others who are “dominant” in society. The biggest culprits of said LGBTQ+ oppression are traditional Christians, of course. Traditional, heterosexual Christians have all kinds of power and privilege, which they routinely use to the detriment of the long-suffering LGBTQ+ “community”. As is often the case with ideologically-driven dogma, this is a grave distortion of reality. The power and privilege lies on the LGBTQ+ side, while traditional Christians are daily finding out just how “marginalized” they really are. https://orthodoxreflections.com/who-is-really-marginalized-lgbtq-or-christians/