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The President of the United States echoed what many are saying across the nation— that houses of worship are essential and must re-open.
In California, more than a thousand pastors from various— predominantly Pentecostal Christian denominations— even threatened an angry lawsuit against that state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, and loud voices are continuing to grow across the nation, particularly now that the President has used the pulpit of the West Wing to send his defiant message— even threatening to override the governors’ orders.
If Costco and Starbucks are essential to the functioning of society, so too are houses of worship, they are saying. If liquor stores and beauty salons are essential— so are churches!
And they’re 100% correct… And everywhere across this great nation, Christian Churches are continuing to provide the essential functions that they have been called to do.
Churches never stopped being essential. They were never stopped from doing what Jesus commanded them to do.
No one has stopped a church from feeding the hungry, or tending to the needs of the poor and the sick. Social media is full of great examples of how Greek Orthodox parishes, Philoptochos chapters and youth groups throughout the nation are helping the vulnerable— just as Christ has commanded all Christians to do.
No government has stopped priests from conducting services— albeit behind closed doors but still connected to their communities thanks to the power of technology.
Especially in times of distress— Churches are, and have been, providing essential services. No government has forbidden this and this is, after all, the message of Christ, isn’t it? It’s about serving others and not ourselves.
On the contrary, even under harsh restrictive measures with physical buildings shuttered and gatherings prohibited, Greek Orthodox Christians are still able to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and live his commands. They are still able to “worship” Christ in countless ways without being inside a building.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America set the example by establishing a $500,000 Covid-19 Relief Fund that will assist the most vulnerable people of our community and beyond.
Inspired by the story of the first Greek settlers in America in the 1700s who found protection in St. Augustine, Florida, Bishop Demetrios at the St. Photios National Shrine sought to share protection in the form of more than 800 masks that were sent to all clergy in the Archdiocese.
At my home parish in Chicago, Fr. Chrysanthos Kerkeres and a network of community and business leaders have been delivering meals to first responders and sick people throughout the city and continuously checking in with members of the parish with regular wellness checks.
Continuing in their nearly-century long tradition, the Philoptochos Society made emergency cash contributions to food banks and launched an extensive outreach program to assist people throughout the nation who are in need of material and emotional support.
In New Rochelle, a town in New York that became an epicenter of the virus in March, Despina Karston and her team at the local Philoptochos Chapter didn’t run to the safety of their homes and hunker down. No. They mobilized and immediately began serving the broader community’s first responders and healthcare workers.
These are but a few examples that prove that worship and being a Christian is not confined to ritual and liturgies.
Everyone misses getting together and participating in the Divine Services and Holy Sacraments which are an integral part of the journey of Greek Orthodox Christians.
But when Christ spoke about love, I doubt he was talking about loving ourselves to the point of prioritizing our own desires and spiritual nourishment over the well-being of the community, not to mention the most vulnerable.
Is it Christian-like to demand public gatherings that public health officials have warned could put people’s lives at risk? Is it Christian-like to impose upon the clergy— many of whom are well into their 70s and 80s— and to risk their own health for our spiritual satisfaction? Just so we can get a palm cross, or a lit candle?
I echo the words of Fr. Mike Kinman of All Saints Church in California in an online sermon he gave to his community.
“Do we miss gathering in our worship space as an entire community? Absolutely! We share the pain of those who want to pour into their worship spaces. We long for being together in that way. And … prioritizing our desires over the safety of the community is not love. It’s self-centeredness … and it’s deadly.”
Watching all of the self-centered whiners on Facebook demand to go to church, demand to receive Holy Communion and even threaten to leave the Greek Orthodox Church for another jurisdiction reminds me of a conversation I had with my 95 year old uncle in Crete during Holy Week.
My Uncle Manolis is a very devout man and to this day, regularly attends the Church of the Evangelistria in Hania— the same church where my parents were married in 1962 and the same Church he’s attended all his life.
I asked him how he was handling being in quarantine and not being able to attend services.
He chuckled as he proceeded to tell me a story.
“My son (paidi mou) God isn’t in that building and we don’t need that building to be close to God. God is wherever we are,” Uncle Manolis proceeded to tell me.
During World War II when the Nazis invaded and occupied Crete, my uncle recalls a rogue priest who defied orders prohibiting assembly and celebrated a liturgy in the neighborhood Church. It was the beginning of the occupation in 1941 and the Nazis established curfews on the local population.
“That day,” my uncle told me, “was the last service for three entire years. The Germans became so angry at this priest that they shot him in front of all of us and locked the doors of the Church with a chain.”
“We didn’t have services, we didn’t have communion, we didn’t lift lambades to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ for three consecutive years,” my uncle continued. “And that distance from the church didn’t make us weaker— no, it made us stronger in our faith.”
Think of it. Three whole years. No church. No communion— and back then, they didn’t even have live-streaming. Three entire years— and we’re complaining about two months.
Demanding to gather for liturgies and services that put lives in danger is not a way to honor Jesus Christ.
Organizing homeless meal deliveries and tending to sick and vulnerable people in your community is a way to honor Jesus Christ. Picking up the phone to call the elderly people in your community and ask if they need anything— that’s a way to “worship” Jesus Christ.
The President and numerous others have said Churches are essential.
I agree— but their essential purpose isn’t to serve individual desires of cry-babies demanding God’s love. Their essential purpose is to serve and protect the well-being of the greater community and share the very love that Jesus Christ himself commanded all Christians to share.
And when doctors, public health experts and officials tasked with protecting the public have determined that it is safe to gather, churches can continue their other calling– the liturgical and sacramental calling. In the meantime, we all have plenty to keep busy with if we want to follow in Jesus Christ’s footsteps.
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6 comments
Bravo, Greg, for putting out the true message of religion, all religions. I am not Greek Orthodox, but I share in the basic philosophy you expressed, that of thinking of and caring about others. Lately, thanks to the media and the Internet, we have had thrown into our faces, so many examples of exactly the opposite in a number, I hope a small number, a number of Americans who are making a spectacle of their selfishness, their blindness to what is or might be soon happening to their fellowmen. It makes me both angry and very sad to watch.
And off the subject, could you send me your current email address. I have something I wanted to tell you and something(s) I wanted to ask.
God gave man science, but it cannot take precedence over the faith “The criminalization of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the notion that ‘Christ is dangerous to human health,’ the questioning of God’s power and the advancement of science, which God has given us, but we cannot have it above the power of God—these are signs of the mentality that has been cultivated for years in our homeland,” the hierarch lamented.His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu
With the outbreak of the Coronavirus we hear calls repeatedly from many priests and hierarchs to practice social distancing, avoid attendance at Liturgy, and rely instead on viewing the live-streaming of liturgical services. Is this good advice?
While temporary absence from liturgical services may be a necessary part of our response to the virus outbreak, the spiritual efficacy of live-streaming is seriously doubtful. Yes, for use in certain circumstances such as for those who are severely ill, bed-ridden or too weak to do anything other than view a television or computer monitor, live-streaming of the liturgy may serve a benefit. Certainly, the possibility exists that hymnography that is sung at live-streamed services may be heard by those who would otherwise be inattentive had they been physically present. Many have benefited from time to time by viewing liturgical services recorded on YouTube which are highly educational and often deeply inspiring. Why, then, would recorded or live-streamed services pose a spiritual hazard to us, especially at this time of grave illness and distress?
The answer is because in viewing a liturgical service in this manner, one additional barrier—the screen—stands between the viewer and the celebrant of the service. This one element, and the posture that it evokes in the viewer, is symptomatic of the very problem that liturgy poses for the modern person. By peering into a monitor to see something that we are meant, instead, to be actively participating in, the Liturgy is once again misunderstood and misused by such a viewer. Instead of being actively engaged as a member of the body gathered together and manifesting its fullness. ~Archpriest John Klingel
Fear has been the single biggest motivator during the coronavirus crisis: not faith, not politics, and not even science. Yet fear—especially the fear of Death—is the exact opposite of the Lord’s teaching:
And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing further they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: fear Him who after He kills, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!(Matthew 10:28)A church that is deemed useless in a time of crisis like this is also useless in normal times.
What is the purpose of a church during normal times? There are better places to have a social club, an intellectual chat group, a school, or a centre to alleviate poverty. The distinctive function of the church is the place where the Holy Mysteries are offered, in order to heal souls (prayers go along with this: if churches were for prayers alone, one could pray at home and sell off the church buildings).
Historically, Orthodox Christians did everything they could to assemble to receive the Holy Mysteries. Even in the darkest days of the Soviet Union or the Ottoman Empire, the enemies of the Church allowed at least a few churches to operate. Those too fearful to attend might arrange to have the Holy Mysteries smuggled out to them, receive Holy Baptism in a private home, or meet in a remote forest for Holy Unction. Even during times of plague, Church authorities would not close the churches: on the contrary, they made the Holy Mysteries more accessible—taking certain precautions if lives were at risk—but always using the Heavenly Power of Christ’s Church for it’s true function.~ Archpriest Geoffrey Korz
Christ is Risen! Truly he is Risen!
In Christ Thomas Stamatiou from Montreal
Although I agree with much of what Mr. Stamatiou writes, I remind him that we are the Church, that God is everywhere, and that he hears us from wherever we pray.
People forget that the woman with an issue of blood touched only Christ’s clothes and was healed, not even his own Body. Now they’re worried about the cloth and spoon! the HOLY SPOON represents the hand fo the Seraphim from the Angelic order, which held a burning coal and touched the Prophet Isaiah’s mouth and said: This had touched my lips, and will take away thine iniquities, and will purge thy sins. – Orthodoxy for you
Well said. Thank you.
There are already numerous experts that have put forward the contention that gathering is safe, and that the changes mandated by the bishops to our practice of the Orthodox Faith are not necessary for anyone’s safety. Regardless, what is the plan going forward? Is there an expert (CDC, WHO, Surgeon General) whose blessing the bishops will honor and let us go back to kissing icons and having fellowship? Is a vaccine required? What conditions must be met before my sons can serve at the altar again? Instead of mocking anyone, can we not at least ask some of the bishops or their advisors how we get back to the real practice of the Orthodox Faith?