Sanity Revisited

Here are two messages that got little press when they were released, but should be read again (and again and again for those who believe Fester).

This first is from Bishop Mark Maymon, the second from Bishop Benjamin Peterson.

I am not going to comment on them other than to say that they are as valid now as they were when they were written.

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Thursday, March 03, 2011

I have recklessly forgotten Your glory, O Father; And among sinners I have scattered the riches which You gave to me. And now I cry to You as the Prodigal: I have sinned before You, O merciful Father; Receive me as a penitent and make me as one of Your hired servants. Kontakion of the Prodigal Son

Dear to God,

Christ is in our midst! As we gather this Sunday, we remember the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, reminding us that sin alienated mankind from God, much like the prodigal son who was estranged from his father. We have drifted far from the newness of Baptismal Grace and our blessed hope in the Resurrection we experience at Pascha through proper preparation, i.e., prayer, fasting, sacred reading and frequent communion and confession. Our life has become old and petty once again.

The time of Lent is set aside to make a serious and sustained effort to draw closer to the Lord. How? By abstaining from certain foods, frivolous talk, and guarding our eyes, ears and tongue. Simply abstaining from certain foods will not save us, but it is a sacred tool nevertheless. During this time the church in her wisdom also instructs us to abstain from sin as well and the things that incite the passions. In order to do so, we must guard our eyes, ears and tongue.

Let us use the time profitably, by observing the fast, holy confession, attendance at the divine services as well as abstinence from various forms of entertainment, i.e., movies, parties and thoughtless hours on the computer or internet reading blogs, etc. Let us purify our minds and hearts, redirecting our passions towards their proper goal, the Lord Himself, to the glory of God.

Over the past several years without fail there seems to arise some perceived crisis to distract us from our Lenten journey. This year is no exception. As you may know His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah is on a Leave of Absence. Our Holy Synod expressed their love and concern for him in Santa Fe, NM and their desire to see him take a time of rest and return before Pascha more focused and refreshed. He is scheduled to Consecrate Bishop-Elect Matthias together with the members of the Holy Synod on Bright Saturday. The Synod affirmed their love for Metropolitan Jonah numerous times throughout our gathering. As I am new to the OCA and the Synod, I can only address what I saw and

heard. There was no talk whatsoever of removing him as the Metropolitan. He has labored caring for multiple dioceses and as our Metropolitan. He simply needed a break.

Let us resist the temptation to speculate on motives and feeding our eyes on disturbing websites, emails, etc. in this regard. There is a critical spirit which wants to dissect every word and judge every motive. Let us not bring the house down upon our heads. Pray for His Beatitude, the Holy Synod and the Metropolitan Council. Abstain from those things that excite the passions, especially, gossip. Our Diocese had peace.

Once again, let us believe in the power of prayer, purity and holiness. The Holy Synod told His Beatitude numerous times “we want you to succeed. We need you to succeed. The OCA needs you.” Let us pray that when he comes back he is rested. He will not rest if the house is burning down. Thank God we have a full schedule of services at St Seraphim for Great and Holy Lent to guide our hearts and minds through the coming months. Please come and pray for your Hierarchs, your Diocese, your priests and your church.

Yours in Christ,

+Mark

Auxiliary Bishop to the Metropolitan and Administrator of the Diocese of the South

CC: Diocesan Clergy and Faithful; Friends of St Seraphim of Sarov

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http://www.dowoca.org/news_110303_2.html

March 3, 2011

Holy Martyrs Eutropius, Cleonicus and Basiliscus of Amasea

Beloved Clergy, Monastics and Faithful of the Diocese of the West

As many of you are painfully aware, there are numerous speculations and opinions floating about the internet following a recent meeting of the Holy Synod of our Orthodox Church in America. I believe there is no accident that this great temptation is happening just before the period of the Great Fast.

I have been quite reticent about making matters more complicated, more confusing, and more perilous by making some sort of public statement that will be parsed and scrutinized by others. We have come to a precarious time in our history, a time when it is possible for anyone with an opinion or thought to broadcast it to the world. And, it seems there are those who feel every matter is their business. The result is soul destroying. The demon of gossip runs about freely among us, hardly detected and unexposed to the light of day.

What occurred in Santa Fe was a matter that should have and could have remained within the body of our Holy Synod. It should have remained there to preserve both the dignity of our much-loved Metropolitan and of his brother hierarchs, the Synod of Bishops. It was and remains a matter that touches upon mutual accountability, truth and a most sacred trust that must exist among the hierarchs of the Church of God. It was and remains a matter that touches upon the meaning of obedience to each other out of love in Christ, counciliarity.

Very soon after our meeting, postings began to appear on the internet from people who were not in the room, from persons who had and have no first-hand knowledge of the deliberations that took place there. A website in Greece, for example, assured the world Metropolitan Jonah had been asked to resign and was no longer the primate of the Orthodox Church in America. This is flatly and totally untrue. It is a lie told by gossips who know nothing.

The Holy Synod of Bishops, a body whose very nature requires mutual obedience to each other in a spirit of truth, asked Metropolitan Jonah to request a leave of 60 days and to allow us to remove the heavy burden of care for our Church from his shoulders so that he could attend to his own physical, mental and spiritual health. We attempted to do this in a manner that would allow him privacy and to retain the dignity of his office. This is clearly indicated in the minutes. I regret our delay in releasing these minutes has allowed speculation to injure the Body of Christ and for that injury to fester. It has allowed persons outside the body of the Synod to spin and color the facts.

The Metropolitan Jonah remains the primate of the Orthodox Church in America and, like the rest of us, is accountable to God and to the entire Church for his actions. Our polity that rests upon the critical relationship between the primate and his synod is, I believe, what is being challenged but remains unchanged.

I ask your prayers for both the Metropolitan and the Holy Synod and I ask your forgiveness for the disturbance that has occurred in the peace of the Church.

+Benjamin, Bishop of San Francisco and the West