TALES FROM L.A.
“It Really Hurts”
By Fr. John S. Bakas
From time to time, I get an email or letter that breaks my
heart. I’m sure every one of our priests have had their hearts broken in
similar fashion. It really hurts.
A few weeks ago, I received an email which read as follows:
“My name is Dorothea. I was wondering if you may be able to give me some advice
regarding my upcoming wedding ceremony.
My finance Paul and I are getting married early next year. He was baptized Russian Orthodox and I, Greek
Orthodox. However, we are having a
secular ceremony as we consider ourselves Agnostic, while relating to and
living by Yogic and Buddhist philosophy. However, I have a deep desire to
incorporate some of my Greek heritage into our wedding ceremony. My wish is to
honor this part of my Greek culture and bring some of the tradition and ritual
to the ceremony. Of course, I understand this is a very tricky thing to do, as
the beautiful Greek rituals signify a sacrament that doesn’t quite fit our
personal feelings and beliefs.”
I thought a great deal about this email and re-read it
several times to get its full impact. I told Dorothea that it would be improper
to make up your own spirituality as you please. It is syncretism at its worst.
My words didn’t really matter to her. She was polite but very unbending. We
rightly send Orthodox missionaries around the world, attempting to evangelize
non-Christians in Africa, Southeast Asia, building churches and bringing the
Orthodox Faith to them, yet right here in our own back yard we are losing so
many of our own. Just look around in any
of our parishes and you will find the lost, the prodigals, the disconnected who
have gone off as scripture says “to a far off land” far from Christ and His
Church.
I’m afraid so many of us are conflicted about the role and
purpose of our Orthodox Faith when it comes down to the parish level. Ask any
three people what the role of the church is and you will probably get three
different answers. I wonder if Dorothea and fiancé Paul in their spiritually
formative years were truly exposed to our real faith, the faith of the Bible, the
Fathers and the deep Christ centered worship services of our Holy Tradition. I
wonder if their spiritual quest was drowned out by cultural and ethnic
pressures and priorities. I wonder if they saw their priest as a true spiritual
father, leading them on the road of salvation or a religious “country club”
director dressed in black and wearing a cross directing traffic in the diverse
expectations and demands of parishioners. Was their sacramental and prayer life
more important than the social, athletic and cultural activities that often
overwhelm the attention of our focus to our Triune God? Have we lost the balance? Do we offer programs just to keep our people
involved to show numbers or do we encourage activities as “ministries” of the
church leading people to Christ through social, athletic and cultural programs.
I suspect that the overwhelming majority of our people have
never read the Archdiocesan Uniform Parish Regulations. In the Mission statement for each parish in
the Archdiocese the following is made abundantly clear. “The diakonia (ministry) of the Parish will include proclaiming and
teaching the Gospel in accordance with the Orthodox Faith; sanctifying the
faithful through God’s grace in worship, the Divine Liturgy and the other
sacraments; enhancing its parishioners’ spiritual life; and adding to the
numbers of the faithful by receiving persons into the Church through
instruction, baptism and/or chrismation.
In addition, the Parish shall establish educational and philanthropic
activities to foster the aims and mission of the Parish and to edify its
parishioners in the Faith and ethos of the Church.”
Many well-meaning parishioners and even some parish councils
do not fully understand the role of the priest.
Their clichéd role is not just “hatch” (baptism) “match” (weddings)
“patch” (counsel) and “dispatch” (funerals). The U.P.R.s clearly states the
fundamental role of the priest at the parish level.
“The Priest by virtue
of his canonical ordination and assignment heads and administers the parish and
exercise on its behalf the priestly duties, which consist in shepherding the
Parish entrusted to his care, directing its orderly life, preserving its unity
and keeping it faithful to its divine purpose.
He shall sanctify his parishioners through the administration of the
sacraments and the performance of all other prescribed services of worship. He shall also proclaim the Gospel and impart
knowledge of the doctrines, traditions, canons and disciplines of the
Church. Further, he shall guide the
growth and progress of the Parish in the Christian life through the performance
of his pastoral duties.”
It seems so many have different expectations of the Church
and Her clergy. What are yours? Are they in accordance with scripture and our
Holy Tradition as taught unadulterated since Pentecost? Do we understand the
Apostolic succession of the priesthood going back all the way to the High
Priest, our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ who established the priesthood?
Our Lord’s final command to His priests, His Apostles, was the
Great Commission. “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age.”
MT.28:16-20
I wish someone would have shared the Gospel (Good News) with
Dorothea and Paul in their formative years. Perhaps, there would now be an
Orthodox priest performing their upcoming wedding. Even though it really hurts, it’s still not too late. The prodigal son
came to his senses and returned to his Father’s house. I pray for the return one
day of Dorothea and Paul and so many countless other prodigals to their
Heavenly Father’s house, our Orthodox Church.
Fr. Bakas is Dean of Saint Sophia Cathedral, Los Angeles and a faculty member of Loyola
Marymount University ,
School of Theology
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