Glory be to Jesus Christ!
Just a few things:
1. Divine Liturgy: Hearing of confessions and the reading of the hours at 9:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
2. On behalf of the Holy Cross Mission Parish, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to Sandy and Dave on the passing of Sandy’s mother Olga. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sandy and her family during this time. May her memory be eternal.
3. Annual Gardenton Pilgrimage to St. Michael’s Historical Church, July 24th, 2010.
9:00 Confession
9:15 Procession
9:30 Greeting of Hierarchs
10:00 Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
4. Thank you to all that helped out with the display for Holy Cross at the 22nd Sobor held here in Winnipeg. Our pad-folios were a huge hit. Just the right size for people to doodle on. People are aware that there is a mission parish here in Winnipeg and learnt what we are all about. Thank you to Cropo Funeral Home for their donation towards our advertising material.
5. On July 14, 2010 the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada unanimously stood up and as one voice elected Archbishop Yurij as the Metropolitan Nominate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. No voting was needed. No counting of ballots. The delegates of the Sobor stood as one and shouted AXIOS, AXIOS, AXIOS. It was truly a joyous and wonderful moment.
The Sobor then adjourned for lunch and when it reconvened, it heard the financial report. Needless to say, the euphoria of the choosing our next Metropolitan was quickly dampened by the stark reality of the state of our church.
It is no secret that our church is in a decline. Membership that numbered over 200,000 in the 1950′s is now below 10,000. 60 years and we have lost 190,000 members. Many have fallen asleep in the Lord. However, our Holy Church has lost a generation, and in my humble opinion, I truly believe we are on our way of losing another, if we haven’t already. Many will state it is because we never embraced bi-lingualism soon enough. That our nationalistic ego and pride to hold onto our language and culture was and always will be more important than sharing the Gospel message of God’s love for humanity, that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour. But that is a debate that has been argued over and over by men and women much wiser than I so I am not going to venture into it.
The 22nd Sobor elected a good man as the Metropolitan Elect. But he will require help. He will require all of us getting on the same page. He will require us to rededicate ourselves. Our church faces serious problems and requires serious people. People serious about their spiritual life. People serious about their relationship with God and with each other. Serious about sharing this wonderful gift of Holy Orthodox with the world around them. Sharing with their neighbour, their co-worker, with their family and friends, with their fellow Orthodox.
We were quick to stand up and shout Axios. Will we be as quick to stand up to defend and support our Hierarchy and our Consistory Board? It is true that they must be held accountable, but at the same time we too must be held accountable, because the Sobor spoke on behalf of our church as a whole.
It is easy to stand on the sidelines and shout “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” and lay palm branches down but when the time comes for us to be truly serious and committed, will we stand firm in our faith and offer help and support, or will we run away and hide and denounce and say, “I do not know the Man!”
The 22nd Sobor is done. We have new leadership. New resolutions. New and old problems. Be patient with our leadership. Be forgiving. Be attentive. Be supportive. Be serious.
Answer to last week’s question:
In John’s Gospel Jesus gave Himself a name by saying “I am…” seven times. What was the SEVENTH name? THE TRUE VINE.
This week’s question:
Which Old Testament book has a verse in it which is taken as a Messianic prophecy about Jesus being betrayed by a friend?
See you in church.
In Christ,
Fr. Evan
