As usual, an excellent teaching from Fr. Josiah. I think this is great advice. At the end of the day, Christ is in control of His Church. Yes, we should be vigilant and call out wrongdoing, but we should never dispair.
Here’s a necessary resource (constantly being updated) that faithful Orthodox Christians can use to stay away from impostors and false teachers who scandalize the Church and help them identify the righteous and faithful priests, bishops, and teachers they can trust.
He said everything we wanted to say and better than we could say it. It breaks my heart. We pray for all involved. I have to say, however, the surrounding circumstances have some unanswered questions.
He sure did, him and Fr. Peter Heers have summed up everything perfectly. It is heart breaking, but, it is comforting in a weird way that there have been other points of Church history that have been just as bad or worse.
I have to be honest I’m not sure what the surrounding circumstances are. I assume he’s talking about the recent gay baptism or something?
This is so timely. Just what I needed to receive today.
God bless him and keep him strong. God keep us, everyone, to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Keep us strong and faithful Lord! (I love his homilies and messages.)
I recognize scandals are inevitable, but in what sense are they “necessary”? I suppose seeing as sins will occur, that they come to light/become public (ie., become a scandal) is necessary in order for the Church to be purified and in order that true, godly leaders and members be recognized for who they are.
The recent film about the life of St. Nektarios (“Man of God”) is instructive in this regard and inspirational.
I think he might be causing a little confusion by using the word “necessary.” English translations commonly use “must,” a slightly softer word, including the Orthodox Study Bible. The point is that God does not cause division, rather free will has resulted in human sinfulness, with division the result. But that division then reveals who is good and who is a bad among us, and the suffering the good endure is what makes saints.
Good talk, though the ending lacked one aspect that is important, when he talks about not leaving the Church. It is possible to leave parish life while still remaining in the Church, evidenced by the early hermits who fled to the desert to escape sin, heresy and complacency in the cities. The first generation did not have access to sacraments, as they weren’t priests and lived far from any priests, those only came later. Yet they became great saints. St. Mary of Egypt is one of the early examples of that.
The early Church Fathers support this, in their constant teaching in the strongest terms from their earliest writings, including the Didache, to shun and avoid sinful or heretical presbyters, calling them wild dogs, ravening wolves, etc. Their point is not to lose your faith, to stand firm in faith while avoiding and refusing to follow bad leaders.
If you have no good leaders or parishes in your area, I believe it is entirely possible to simply turn your home into a kind of desert hermitage, following the prayer life and maintaining faith. Especially considering the earliest monastic forms started in private homes, not out in the desert, for example St. Basil and his family. Follow good teachers from a distance, which the internet makes possible, and use good spiritual reading. I’ve done that when I had to, and my faith has not suffered, rather it became stronger and clearer when not confused or affected by bad or weak leadership.
I hear what you’re saying though, and sometimes it can be useful to take a little time away, with the blessing of a spiritual father. Otherwise I think it is probably not a good idea to guide others into thinking they can be like monks in the desert (a dangerous and difficult path even when done the “normal” way) by refusing to go to a parish under a priest or bishop who is lacking in some way other than canonical good standing. While you are right that we are exhorted to close our ears to wrong teaching and even to challenge it, I have never read anything in Scripture or in the Fathers that tells the faithful to stop participating in parish life for any reason unless specifically told to by a spiritual father.
Alex on “Brothers of the Eleventh Hour”: “From the EP’s standpoint, Ukraine already is autocephalous. Yes, Joseph, (the) Ukraine is already ‘autocephalous’. An ‘autocephalous’ church full of…” Mar 27, 20:54
Katherine on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “Dear Excused Seminarian, I believe that Father Bartholomew correctly addressed the problem situation. It seems that sternness was required. How…” Mar 27, 13:29
Joseph Lipper on “Brothers of the Eleventh Hour”: “Autocephaly for the UOC Petros, how do see that coming about? From the EP’s standpoint, Ukraine already is autocephalous. From…” Mar 27, 13:01
Petros on “Brothers of the Eleventh Hour”: “Since we celebrated the Sunday of Orthodoxy yesterday it’s a good reminder that whatever goes on in the Church, Orthodoxy…” Mar 27, 12:18
Southern USA on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “Lara Logan has some interesting thoughts on this event in Baltimore. We’ve been lied to so much by our government…” Mar 27, 10:50
John Sakelaris on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “Your reference to “Devil-ish groups or instruments” had seemed vague or confusing to me. I did not know where to…” Mar 26, 22:09
George Michalopulos on The Saturday Evening Post: March 23 Edition: “GOOD NEWS! A British high court just ruled that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US unless our government…” Mar 26, 09:15
LonelyDn on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “Mass Casualty Event’: 1.6 Mile Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Being Struck by Cargo Ship The major Beltway Bridge over the…” Mar 26, 08:33
Mary on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “Oh, I’m sure those seminarians probably they could skate by and no one would notice. All this talk about how…” Mar 25, 14:57
Southern USA on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “Yes, this seminarian’s complaint letter is weird and whiny. GenZ in seminary, I guess – haha Holy Cross is also…” Mar 25, 14:50
Southern USA on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “ISIS and those who allowed themselves to be used as expendable tools by their CIA/MI6/Mossad supervisors made this event happen.…” Mar 25, 14:41
Brendan on Hmmm. . . Is This More Confirmation?: “Trump’s ‘fraud’ explained (in the simplest terms): Judge Napolitano with Gerald Celente: #Trump assets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr0JCC24GGs [Video – 04:18]” Mar 25, 12:45
Ioannis on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “John, why two standards, “wandering” for other forces, but “clarity” for Islamic extremists only? Was it an Islamic extremist who…” Mar 25, 09:57
John Sakelaris on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “For what it is worth, wire reports stated that the widow did not attend the funeral for fear of being…” Mar 25, 07:56
Petros on “Brothers of the Eleventh Hour”: “Blessed feast of the Annunciation & happy Greek Independence Day to George and other Greeks on here. Even with the…” Mar 25, 07:08
GShep on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “I was wondering about that, too. HOLY CROSS has a long history of seminarians complaining over things that seem like…” Mar 24, 23:19
Petros on BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in Moscow!: “I am definitely in no way justifying what Fr. Bartholomew has written or said to the seminarians and it could…” Mar 24, 13:00
It’s about to get hot in Antioch.
It needs to get hotter in another jurisdiction as well.
That would be in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese! It’s time!
Yes, the source is Orthodoxy in Dialogue, but all Antiochian parishes received a pastoral letter from Patriarch John X yesterday, Wow.https://orthodoxyindialogue.com/2022/08/22/leaked-metropolitan-joseph-under-investigation-for-16-year-affair-with-married-woman/#more-21299
The hierarchy must clean up its scandal ASAP.
As usual, an excellent teaching from Fr. Josiah. I think this is great advice. At the end of the day, Christ is in control of His Church. Yes, we should be vigilant and call out wrongdoing, but we should never dispair.
Here’s a necessary resource (constantly being updated) that faithful Orthodox Christians can use to stay away from impostors and false teachers who scandalize the Church and help them identify the righteous and faithful priests, bishops, and teachers they can trust.
Warning to Orthodox Church: False Teachers and Deceitful Venues That Contradict and Distort Church Teaching
https://www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2019/07/warning-to-orthodox-church-false-teachers-and-deceitful-venues-that-contradict-and-distort-church-teaching/
Extremely important analysis.
Thank you for posting this. Very helpful.
Yes indeed.
This was an amazing video by Fr. Josiah. Very relevant.
He said everything we wanted to say and better than we could say it. It breaks my heart. We pray for all involved. I have to say, however, the surrounding circumstances have some unanswered questions.
He sure did, him and Fr. Peter Heers have summed up everything perfectly. It is heart breaking, but, it is comforting in a weird way that there have been other points of Church history that have been just as bad or worse.
I have to be honest I’m not sure what the surrounding circumstances are. I assume he’s talking about the recent gay baptism or something?
Don’t let “others” drag you down to “hades” alive is what the good Fr. is telling us.
This is so timely. Just what I needed to receive today.
God bless him and keep him strong. God keep us, everyone, to have eyes to see and ears to hear. Keep us strong and faithful Lord! (I love his homilies and messages.)
I recognize scandals are inevitable, but in what sense are they “necessary”? I suppose seeing as sins will occur, that they come to light/become public (ie., become a scandal) is necessary in order for the Church to be purified and in order that true, godly leaders and members be recognized for who they are.
The recent film about the life of St. Nektarios (“Man of God”) is instructive in this regard and inspirational.
I think he might be causing a little confusion by using the word “necessary.” English translations commonly use “must,” a slightly softer word, including the Orthodox Study Bible. The point is that God does not cause division, rather free will has resulted in human sinfulness, with division the result. But that division then reveals who is good and who is a bad among us, and the suffering the good endure is what makes saints.
Good talk, though the ending lacked one aspect that is important, when he talks about not leaving the Church. It is possible to leave parish life while still remaining in the Church, evidenced by the early hermits who fled to the desert to escape sin, heresy and complacency in the cities. The first generation did not have access to sacraments, as they weren’t priests and lived far from any priests, those only came later. Yet they became great saints. St. Mary of Egypt is one of the early examples of that.
The early Church Fathers support this, in their constant teaching in the strongest terms from their earliest writings, including the Didache, to shun and avoid sinful or heretical presbyters, calling them wild dogs, ravening wolves, etc. Their point is not to lose your faith, to stand firm in faith while avoiding and refusing to follow bad leaders.
If you have no good leaders or parishes in your area, I believe it is entirely possible to simply turn your home into a kind of desert hermitage, following the prayer life and maintaining faith. Especially considering the earliest monastic forms started in private homes, not out in the desert, for example St. Basil and his family. Follow good teachers from a distance, which the internet makes possible, and use good spiritual reading. I’ve done that when I had to, and my faith has not suffered, rather it became stronger and clearer when not confused or affected by bad or weak leadership.
You can’t receive communion from afar, and there are some things here that sound a little like Donatism (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatism).
I hear what you’re saying though, and sometimes it can be useful to take a little time away, with the blessing of a spiritual father. Otherwise I think it is probably not a good idea to guide others into thinking they can be like monks in the desert (a dangerous and difficult path even when done the “normal” way) by refusing to go to a parish under a priest or bishop who is lacking in some way other than canonical good standing. While you are right that we are exhorted to close our ears to wrong teaching and even to challenge it, I have never read anything in Scripture or in the Fathers that tells the faithful to stop participating in parish life for any reason unless specifically told to by a spiritual father.