A Thoughtful Response

 

Source: wikipedia.org

Some more thoughtful responses to the NYT's article about the recent conversions to Orthodox Christianity.

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Good morning, Father!

Reflecting on the line "The Church becomes monstrous when it worships itself and reduces its identity to lists of moral principles or a retro historical ideal." Two weeks after I became a Catechumen back in 2023, I visited St Gregory Palamas for the first time with a group of guys. After Liturgy, Abbot Josef was kind enough to visit with us in the guest house. Mark Phillips asked Abbot Josef if he had any pieces of advice for inquirers or catechumens, and his response was "Learn to love Christ more than you love Orthodoxy." That has stuck with me as a way to remain grounded and focused, not overemphasizing the form of Orthodoxy or entering into a "Orthodoxy vs the world" mindset, but simply to focus on Christ through the Church. I think it can be easy as a convert to see the Church as something primarily negative, as something that stands opposed to whatever ideology we disapprove of (political, religious, modernity, etc). The Abbot's reminder was that the Church belongs to Christ and points directly at Him; becoming united to the Body for any other reason than Christ is superfluous. 

Just a thought I wanted to share. I agree with you in all of this, finding the article to be dissapointing in its caricature of the Church, though unintentionally. I think it is also a reminder that to begin to understand Orthodoxy, you really have to engage in the rhythm of Orthodox life; a cursory outside look can render these flat renditions of something that is quite beautiful.

In Christ, 

Ben Linnabary

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The Church is the Body of Christ, it is about acquiring the Spirit of Christ, of overcoming prejudice and fear; to believe that love and forgiveness is the ultimate Christian message - the Gospel message, and it should not promote any ideological agenda. There is a lot of chaos on the internet and in Orthodox parishes,  as well as to unfortunately include clergy and monastics, that is, in my opinion, in direct opposition to the Gospel. 

With respect,

Presvytera Deborah