I thought I could add the text I wrote for the Week of Christian Unity (in my another blog) to explain as an Orthodox ordinary and not as a learned theologian, how I feel the differences between Christian denominations and why I love Orthodoxy.
Dear fellow Catholics and Protestants,
You complain sometimes our lack of enthusiasm to follow and no doubt we sometimes find yourself well behind on the path you have drawn on which you are convinced that it must go forward. That is why, fraternally, I would like you to know some of our reasons for it is quite possible that what you are looking for you to find us suitable attention, because we've already ...
Want to find, perhaps to give more authenticity to your faith (do you live so as inauthentic?), The Jewish roots of Christianity and you rework the text of Hebrew Bible at the same time you are basing all kinds of research associations and fraternities at once to find more truth and to remove any enmity between Christians and by the Jewish people who did not recognize in Jesus the Messiah Yeshua. And no doubt this is it full of good intentions and even laudable. Sure of the correctness of your approach, therefore, you would like we were following this path and you find that we are not moving with enough motivation.
But we do not feel the same need as you, faithful to our version of the Septuagint Bible we know that although written in Greek, it is a translation made by scholars themselves Jews, a Hebrew text well before the Masoretic version gives you much trouble. We do not feel the same need because we know and live in all our offices - which we want with so much motivation to remain faithful despite their length and perceived as such strange ritual in our time - we know that we live from the offices, without interruption in line with the Temple of Jerusalem that only faith in the Messiah our Lord Jesus Christ have legitimately reformed. And then we have such faith in our faith that we do not feel the need to observe and count the number of Jews became Christians, simple faithful, clergy and hierarchs, so there are many throughout history, and in all Orthodox countries, to have found happiness can naturally recognize that Messiah and Christos are one person. They are easily found at home with all our traditions that we value so much and which we want as we part to be "Our time".
Looking also to get rid of arid intellectual reflections somewhat astringent and tedious, which result from their concern for conceptualization and formalization to make you live your faith especially in the head, away from the life of the heart and body. So do you feel the need to introduce into your office and your prayer meetings more warmth, emotion, new symbols and new gestures, new rituals and new practices where your being incompletely considered and fed can find satisfaction in a greater unification of mind and body.
But we do not even need because our temples as our texts of prayers, as our liturgical objects, like our rituals, like our traditional practices, as our way of church attendance, are full of symbols deep rooted since dawn of time humanity, and transformed by Christian faith that nourish our whole being in all its components and relate to prayer without separation of body and mind, speaking to the man directly without the detour analysis and voluntarism and this naturally because rather than genuinely and fully human has always been.
You are fascinated and sometimes admiring, fearful at the same time as elsewhere, to practice Muslim faith sure of herself, regularity and faithfulness of their prayers, motivation and discipline of their fasts and importance they give to their pilgrimage and also their culinary traditions so appealing.
Why do not we have the same attraction? Probably because the first Orthodox are more familiar than others, and for much longer, to have lived or still live under their yoke, the Muslim world. The opportunities for martyrdom nor have missed throughout history and unfortunately still abound in this "cohabitation" and this in many countries. Then because once again what might miss the Christians of the West - aside from a few centuries since the martyr - we do not miss: we have indeed nothing to envy to the firmness of faith, nor the importance of prayers piously preserved in their entirety, nor the respect of many and rigorous fasts, nor addition to the multitude of enjoyable dishes specially prepared for all kinds of parties such as the commemoration of the dead, saints' days and the Great Feasts of Our God.
Also some feel the need to be modern, to live with their time and probably more than what's reasonable? Manners, social relationships, habits changing each time it seems necessary to take his time. However
one hand we can not but be cautious with the changes and trends. Jean Cocteau said he does not connoisseur: "Fashion is what goes out of style? If any wisdom - without having to go running in the East-not advocating anything other than look for what is not constantly changing but remains eternally stable, how much more our faith encourages us she to do so.
other hand it is sometimes legitimate requests that claim progress necessary and advisable and could be made simply on behalf of a homecoming. After all, it is also the meaning of the word revolution. So is it the celibacy of priests and his questioning. Indeed, one can legitimately ask whether there is coincidence between mandatory priestly vocation and monastic vocation. Of course the Orthodox do not ask this question because true to the tradition in this field as in others they prefer to service of the Church to place their trust in men who are intimately familiar with their daily life in all its aspects in order to live themselves. Again it does not seem to us that fidelity to tradition is not so bad if not suited to our time.
Western Christians have also been aware for some time now that he was missing from their meditative spiritual dimension they began to seek spiritual regions in the Far East and ended up leaving the faith is of their fathers to adopt a new one or have tried with varying degrees of difficulties to coexist with various types of meditation and prayer services of their primitive religion. This spiritual quest does not happen without reason and can not be hastily called Renegade. The need to unify body and mind in prayer, the perceived need to focus on responsiveness in a world shaken and abused activist, it was not easy to satisfy if one were not a specialist and if it does not separate the world. But
Orthodoxy, again, when it could be seen as inappropriate to the contemporary world not only offers spiritual practice that has nothing to envy to the disciplines of the Far East by the authenticity of its centuries-old tradition and the sanctity of his teachers, but can also be practiced constantly, as the more traditional teaching prompted, in everyday life Everyday, the most ordinary of our own time, and all to boot. Why look elsewhere this traditionally offered our church consistently, without distortions, without contradictions, without artificial veneer, exotic without looking, without concern for modernity?
Dear brothers, we will not discuss here the differences, theological problems, controversies and historical polemics but be aware that the same consistency that we have described above for specific points of our practice is necessarily reflected in the formalization of our faith, theology, ecclesiology and his concern to be faithful to the very source of our faith is rooted in our lives as Christians.
We will not talk as Orthodox activists, moreover, although Orthodoxy is also a missionary, it does not mean proselytizing in the direction of encouraging at all costs to join. Considering this we hope a better understanding of kneaded acceptance and respect for others as it is, without wanting to change the thinking that it was necessarily right, may develop between us. Surely the time is anathema it over, and maybe he should go to follow the advice of a hierarch of a faith that is not ours, the Dalai Lama discourages "graft a yak's head on a sheep's body, which encourages everyone to deepen their own tradition and that nobody would want to change either the suit or rituals, or the timetable. Perhaps it is simply necessary each deepen his practice, his faith, his confession, whereas the other with respect, compassion, without wanting to convert at least his style, but with the simple desire to try to know him, knowing that "knowing" within the meaning Bible presupposes an intimacy that can only live in close contact and not just talk. Is this not love? We
Orthodox - but is it orthodox what I'm going to say? - We would like to invite you to attend our liturgies in the greater openness and greater responsiveness possible rather than trying laboriously to make Offices of common prayer, to be the best of intentions, with the most respectable reasons, we seem too deliberate and somewhat superficial or only external and cultural rather than spiritual. Again what I suggest is not the purest orthodoxy but perhaps unity among Christians, if done, will she most certainly in secrecy and invisibility of the source Light from this come back and where all the shadows passing, when everyone will deepen his faith and practice, in the utmost sincerity, not only in the requirement of truth but of charity.
Maximus Orthodox faithful
Dear fellow Catholics and Protestants,
You complain sometimes our lack of enthusiasm to follow and no doubt we sometimes find yourself well behind on the path you have drawn on which you are convinced that it must go forward. That is why, fraternally, I would like you to know some of our reasons for it is quite possible that what you are looking for you to find us suitable attention, because we've already ...
Want to find, perhaps to give more authenticity to your faith (do you live so as inauthentic?), The Jewish roots of Christianity and you rework the text of Hebrew Bible at the same time you are basing all kinds of research associations and fraternities at once to find more truth and to remove any enmity between Christians and by the Jewish people who did not recognize in Jesus the Messiah Yeshua. And no doubt this is it full of good intentions and even laudable. Sure of the correctness of your approach, therefore, you would like we were following this path and you find that we are not moving with enough motivation.
But we do not feel the same need as you, faithful to our version of the Septuagint Bible we know that although written in Greek, it is a translation made by scholars themselves Jews, a Hebrew text well before the Masoretic version gives you much trouble. We do not feel the same need because we know and live in all our offices - which we want with so much motivation to remain faithful despite their length and perceived as such strange ritual in our time - we know that we live from the offices, without interruption in line with the Temple of Jerusalem that only faith in the Messiah our Lord Jesus Christ have legitimately reformed. And then we have such faith in our faith that we do not feel the need to observe and count the number of Jews became Christians, simple faithful, clergy and hierarchs, so there are many throughout history, and in all Orthodox countries, to have found happiness can naturally recognize that Messiah and Christos are one person. They are easily found at home with all our traditions that we value so much and which we want as we part to be "Our time".
Looking also to get rid of arid intellectual reflections somewhat astringent and tedious, which result from their concern for conceptualization and formalization to make you live your faith especially in the head, away from the life of the heart and body. So do you feel the need to introduce into your office and your prayer meetings more warmth, emotion, new symbols and new gestures, new rituals and new practices where your being incompletely considered and fed can find satisfaction in a greater unification of mind and body.
But we do not even need because our temples as our texts of prayers, as our liturgical objects, like our rituals, like our traditional practices, as our way of church attendance, are full of symbols deep rooted since dawn of time humanity, and transformed by Christian faith that nourish our whole being in all its components and relate to prayer without separation of body and mind, speaking to the man directly without the detour analysis and voluntarism and this naturally because rather than genuinely and fully human has always been.
You are fascinated and sometimes admiring, fearful at the same time as elsewhere, to practice Muslim faith sure of herself, regularity and faithfulness of their prayers, motivation and discipline of their fasts and importance they give to their pilgrimage and also their culinary traditions so appealing.
Why do not we have the same attraction? Probably because the first Orthodox are more familiar than others, and for much longer, to have lived or still live under their yoke, the Muslim world. The opportunities for martyrdom nor have missed throughout history and unfortunately still abound in this "cohabitation" and this in many countries. Then because once again what might miss the Christians of the West - aside from a few centuries since the martyr - we do not miss: we have indeed nothing to envy to the firmness of faith, nor the importance of prayers piously preserved in their entirety, nor the respect of many and rigorous fasts, nor addition to the multitude of enjoyable dishes specially prepared for all kinds of parties such as the commemoration of the dead, saints' days and the Great Feasts of Our God.
Also some feel the need to be modern, to live with their time and probably more than what's reasonable? Manners, social relationships, habits changing each time it seems necessary to take his time. However
one hand we can not but be cautious with the changes and trends. Jean Cocteau said he does not connoisseur: "Fashion is what goes out of style? If any wisdom - without having to go running in the East-not advocating anything other than look for what is not constantly changing but remains eternally stable, how much more our faith encourages us she to do so.
other hand it is sometimes legitimate requests that claim progress necessary and advisable and could be made simply on behalf of a homecoming. After all, it is also the meaning of the word revolution. So is it the celibacy of priests and his questioning. Indeed, one can legitimately ask whether there is coincidence between mandatory priestly vocation and monastic vocation. Of course the Orthodox do not ask this question because true to the tradition in this field as in others they prefer to service of the Church to place their trust in men who are intimately familiar with their daily life in all its aspects in order to live themselves. Again it does not seem to us that fidelity to tradition is not so bad if not suited to our time.
Western Christians have also been aware for some time now that he was missing from their meditative spiritual dimension they began to seek spiritual regions in the Far East and ended up leaving the faith is of their fathers to adopt a new one or have tried with varying degrees of difficulties to coexist with various types of meditation and prayer services of their primitive religion. This spiritual quest does not happen without reason and can not be hastily called Renegade. The need to unify body and mind in prayer, the perceived need to focus on responsiveness in a world shaken and abused activist, it was not easy to satisfy if one were not a specialist and if it does not separate the world. But
Orthodoxy, again, when it could be seen as inappropriate to the contemporary world not only offers spiritual practice that has nothing to envy to the disciplines of the Far East by the authenticity of its centuries-old tradition and the sanctity of his teachers, but can also be practiced constantly, as the more traditional teaching prompted, in everyday life Everyday, the most ordinary of our own time, and all to boot. Why look elsewhere this traditionally offered our church consistently, without distortions, without contradictions, without artificial veneer, exotic without looking, without concern for modernity?
Dear brothers, we will not discuss here the differences, theological problems, controversies and historical polemics but be aware that the same consistency that we have described above for specific points of our practice is necessarily reflected in the formalization of our faith, theology, ecclesiology and his concern to be faithful to the very source of our faith is rooted in our lives as Christians.
We will not talk as Orthodox activists, moreover, although Orthodoxy is also a missionary, it does not mean proselytizing in the direction of encouraging at all costs to join. Considering this we hope a better understanding of kneaded acceptance and respect for others as it is, without wanting to change the thinking that it was necessarily right, may develop between us. Surely the time is anathema it over, and maybe he should go to follow the advice of a hierarch of a faith that is not ours, the Dalai Lama discourages "graft a yak's head on a sheep's body, which encourages everyone to deepen their own tradition and that nobody would want to change either the suit or rituals, or the timetable. Perhaps it is simply necessary each deepen his practice, his faith, his confession, whereas the other with respect, compassion, without wanting to convert at least his style, but with the simple desire to try to know him, knowing that "knowing" within the meaning Bible presupposes an intimacy that can only live in close contact and not just talk. Is this not love? We
Orthodox - but is it orthodox what I'm going to say? - We would like to invite you to attend our liturgies in the greater openness and greater responsiveness possible rather than trying laboriously to make Offices of common prayer, to be the best of intentions, with the most respectable reasons, we seem too deliberate and somewhat superficial or only external and cultural rather than spiritual. Again what I suggest is not the purest orthodoxy but perhaps unity among Christians, if done, will she most certainly in secrecy and invisibility of the source Light from this come back and where all the shadows passing, when everyone will deepen his faith and practice, in the utmost sincerity, not only in the requirement of truth but of charity.
Maximus Orthodox faithful
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