http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2010/12/01/the-orthodox-are-the-priests-and-monastics-of-the-people-of-god/ McKinney TX Homilies, scripture commentary, spiritual reflections Tue, 14 May 2013 00:17:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2010/12/01/the-orthodox-are-the-priests-and-monastics-of-the-people-of-god/comment-page-1/#comment-6609 Isaac Fri, 03 Dec 2010 01:16:23 +0000 http://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/?p=2767#comment-6609 Bless Father, Your words are very sobering, very true.  Christ is working outside the walls of His Church, or otherwise people like me would not have found it.  We might be surprised to find many in the Kingdom on that last day from protestant and catholic who found grace in spite of the errors of their confessions, who nevertheless believed in Christ, obeyed His commandments as best they could, and by grace defeated passions, obtained virtues, and suffered for His Name.  God is just and is a debtor to no man, and surely His goodness and mercy pursue such people wherever they may be found. We Orthodox have the fullness of the faith, the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, the Mysteries, the teachings and example of the Fathers and Saints, the Ecumenical Councils, and the Divine Liturgy, but oftentimes here in America we refuse to live it.  Or worse, we think we live it but can barely stand through a 45 minute Vespers service once or twice a year, rarely if ever go to confession, live in service to the passions most of the time, and think that we are living out the fullness of the faith-- because, after all, we go to seminars with famous Orthodox speakers. There are serious abuses in our American Church and the result is unchanged lives, and a dilution of the fullness which Orthodoxy has so long preserved.  I am blessed enough to be in a parish with a good and pious priest who serves vigils and liturgies regardless of the sparse attendance.  He teaches and exhorts us to virtue and to struggle with our passions, and to sober mindfulness of death and judgment.  Frequent communion is encouraged but only with frequent preparation.  Parishes without these things are spiritually ailing, and like you said, need true bishops to guide them back to the saving path.  It is easy to get radicalized and refuse to associate with these people, but that's usually the wrong approach... love for our brethren necessitates the opposite quite often, and correcting meekly, through example and prayer.  As for the idea that the Orthodox are the priests of the people of God, I think Met. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos says something similar in <em>Orthodox Psychotherapy.</em>  All who have been purified of the passions and live in an illumined grace-filled state, or who are least are struggling towards this end, are the "spiritual priesthood" who offer up the spiritual bullocks upon the altar of their pure hearts.  It is this priesthood that is available to all, man and woman, adult and child. Bless Father,
Your words are very sobering, very true.  Christ is working outside the walls of His Church, or otherwise people like me would not have found it.  We might be surprised to find many in the Kingdom on that last day from protestant and catholic who found grace in spite of the errors of their confessions, who nevertheless believed in Christ, obeyed His commandments as best they could, and by grace defeated passions, obtained virtues, and suffered for His Name.  God is just and is a debtor to no man, and surely His goodness and mercy pursue such people wherever they may be found.
We Orthodox have the fullness of the faith, the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, the Mysteries, the teachings and example of the Fathers and Saints, the Ecumenical Councils, and the Divine Liturgy, but oftentimes here in America we refuse to live it.  Or worse, we think we live it but can barely stand through a 45 minute Vespers service once or twice a year, rarely if ever go to confession, live in service to the passions most of the time, and think that we are living out the fullness of the faith– because, after all, we go to seminars with famous Orthodox speakers. There are serious abuses in our American Church and the result is unchanged lives, and a dilution of the fullness which Orthodoxy has so long preserved. 
I am blessed enough to be in a parish with a good and pious priest who serves vigils and liturgies regardless of the sparse attendance.  He teaches and exhorts us to virtue and to struggle with our passions, and to sober mindfulness of death and judgment.  Frequent communion is encouraged but only with frequent preparation.  Parishes without these things are spiritually ailing, and like you said, need true bishops to guide them back to the saving path.  It is easy to get radicalized and refuse to associate with these people, but that's usually the wrong approach… love for our brethren necessitates the opposite quite often, and correcting meekly, through example and prayer. 
As for the idea that the Orthodox are the priests of the people of God, I think Met. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos says something similar in Orthodox Psychotherapy.  All who have been purified of the passions and live in an illumined grace-filled state, or who are least are struggling towards this end, are the "spiritual priesthood" who offer up the spiritual bullocks upon the altar of their pure hearts.  It is this priesthood that is available to all, man and woman, adult and child.

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