Chrysostomos,
Very well put. Of course no words can describe my relationship with my parents - I sometimes almost feel a sense of panic for them and pray that despite my not being an icon of Christ they will be guided by the Holy Spirit.
They are advancing in age and there is little time left.
Funny how it seems that the older we get the more stuck we become in our ways.
OL,
Yes, I don't consider the OCA Orthodox - in theology or practice. Perhaps with the help of the Holy Spirit you will remember the words: "If the salt shall lose its savor".
But I have no problem with you joining the Antiochians. How else will you ever come to the realization that despite joining the Antiochians, you are still a Byzantine Catholic - its just that you will have a different name.
And if you are sincerley seeking the truth and have invited the Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart, you will end up Orthodox sooner or later.
Dear OL,
Sometimes our troubles are generated because we are obnoxious to others. In that case we have no one to blame but ourselves. Othertimes, our choices make others fearful and they react the way they do out of fear.
My advice to you is to not take any advice from the folks on this board. Talk to your spiritual father for advice. When I was young there were TV commercials that started, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV...." and then the actor would suppose to give advice about a medical product. Well, if you will allow some artistic liberty, what you have on this board is, "I'm not an Orthodox Christian, but I play one on the internet." One such person in this thread is "Nicholas" Zollars. His real name is Joe, and he is a catechumen. Another such person on this board is Juvenaly. AFAIK, he is a catechumen and he accepted congratulations for happy nameday for St. Juvenaly a week or two ago. Juvenaly is not his baptized name since he's not Orthodox, but he acts just like he is. Thirdly, there is "Seraphim" Reeves. His name might really be Seraphim, but I doubt it since I have never met a Roman Catholic with that name. AFAIK, he is a catechumen with ROAC.
What the three pretenders have in common is that they are all former SSPX-ers who found ROCOR/ROCA too lax/heretical and have moved on to the "true church" of ROAC--headed by the deposed Valentine. Mr. Zollars became a catechumen on his second visit--if I read the chatter correctly. It appears it is about as hard to become a catechumen in ROAC as it is to get contraceptives from a Planned Parenthood office.
Consider all of this when you ask for and get advice. I think I would rather have advice from someone who has been priest for a long while or been a Matushka for 20 years than have advice from pretenders.
For the record, my real name is Joseph. I have used the "moronikos" moniker for a real long time and it comes as a derivation from the Three Stooges. I am a member St. Antony parish in Tulsa, Oklahoma, part of the Antiochian Archdiocese and my bishop is Basil of the Wichita Chancery. I have been Orthodox for two years. Before that I was a Byzantine Catholic as you are. My parents are Roman Catholic and don't care much what religion I am part of as long as it is christian. My wife and kids are Baptist. They, OTOH, do care and I have been living pretty much as a monk though married--if you know what I mean.
Talk to a wise priest or wise older/experienced Orthodox christian. It's not your responsibility to convert those around you. Instead, St. Seraphim of Sarov wrote something like, "Acquire the Holy Spirit and thousands of those around you will be saved".
Moronikos,
My advice to you is to not take any advice from the folks on this board. Talk to your spiritual father for advice. When I was young there were TV commercials that started, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV...." and then the actor would suppose to give advice about a medical product. Well, if you will allow some artistic liberty, what you have on this board is, "I'm not an Orthodox Christian, but I play one on the internet." One such person in this thread is "Nicholas" Zollars. His real name is Joe, and he is a catechumen. Another such person on this board is Juvenaly. AFAIK, he is a catechumen and he accepted congratulations for happy nameday for St. Juvenaly a week or two ago. Juvenaly is not his baptized name since he's not Orthodox, but he acts just like he is. Thirdly, there is "Seraphim" Reeves. His name might really be Seraphim, but I doubt it since I have never met a Roman Catholic with that name. AFAIK, he is a catechumen with ROAC.
And to be fair, as far as we're concerned, you are neither a catechuman nor Orthodox, but some variant of those "Byzantine-Catholics-not-in-communion-with-Rome", which is as apt description of the ecumenist heresy/schism as I've ever seen.
Seraphim
Orthodox Learner,
Please take the hypocritical ravings of Moronikos with a grain of salt. Keeping in mind...
he has a personal axe(s) to grind
he's a member of a Church which is now organically linked to the Monophysite heresy, as of the Chambesy Agreement of 1991 which outlines official conditions for concelebrations, shared use of worship space, blanket acceptance of "mixed marriages", mutual recognition, etc. It is ecclessiastical communion in everything but name. The consequences of this apostacy are on-going; now it seems the Antiochians are in the business of even granting "canonical" releases to clergy, so that they can join the Monophysites...
With the permission of His Eminence Metropolitan Gabriel of the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese in Western and Central Europe, Father David Sennitt, a priest of the British Antiochian Orthodox Deanery, was granted a canonical release in order that he could be received into the British Orthodox Church. This took place at the hands of Abba Seraphim at Babingley on 9 February. Father David will serve alongside Father David Seeds at the Church at Cusworth, Doncaster. (taken from the official website of the "British Orthodox Church", which is the British part of the Coptic-Monophysite church)
So of course, not having any sorrow or discontent with such an apostacy by his own heirarchs, he's not going to be any friend of those who oppose them on canonical and doctrinal grounds. I'd also keep this in mind in terms of what you choose to do, in terms of pursuing your interest in Orthodoxy - since all of the so called "official Orthodox" churches are in full communion with the Antiochians, and have made no noise about this (no letters from Constantinople, Moscow, Jerusalem, etc., threatening cessation of relations if this is not corrected ASAP). If anything, this Monophysitic unia is being confirmed everywhere, at a parish level (the sight of known Monophysites being communed in "Orthodox" churches here in North America having long been a common phenomenon.)
It's obvious then that the game of pointing fingers at personalities is a dangerous one, which ecumenists would be best to stay out of (though they cannot, since it's the only grounds they have to "argue" in - they certainly cannot go into the area of doctrine and canons, since they tacitly know they're falsifiers in this department...they simply do not think it does not matter, since they apparently have a great insight into these things than the Fathers do; but they know full well this makes them look bad to actually come out and say this). For as I pointed out to Moronikos, if he wants to point to my being a catechuman as being problematic, then I could just as easily point to his status as being neither a catechumen nor Orthodox.
Seraphim
MORON-ikos,
It's funny how you seem to know my history better than I do. I was not a part of SSPX. If you are basing your ASSUME-ptions on a biography that was previously posted here and then "stolen" by Roman Catholic, Byzantine Monophysite Pope worshiping Papists in disguise and used as ammunition for a witchunt against anything Orthodox it never said SSPX what it said, (unless you want to correct me since I am after all the true author of the document) "Traditional Roman Catholic". You can infer whatever you want but at least for once in your life be honest.
What is sad is when you bring character assassination into the picture you made one fatal flaw.
Another such person on this board is Juvenaly. AFAIK, he is a catechumen and he accepted congratulations for happy nameday for St. Juvenaly a week or two ago. Juvenaly is not his baptized name since he's not Orthodox, but he acts just like he is.
Yes, you are right, I am not Orthodox. At least not for another 4 days. Are you angry at the fact that there are people in this workd who desire Baptism and a Christian Orthodox life to the point that they actually begin to LIVE this life prior to baptism?
This is called "metanoia", Greek for CONVERSION. Not just a spiritual conversion but a physical conversion as well. This is what we are told is the result for our longing for the Mysteries and the guidance of the Church. It seems you are angry because you can not attain metanoia, at least not while you are in bed with every conceivable non-Orthodox party in the world.
"Do not cast your pearls before swine..."
Juvenaly
