What Does Rome Need To Do By Father Thomas Hopko

Father Thomas Hopko was Dean Emeritus of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY. Fr. Thomas passed away or fell asleep in the Lord earlier this year on March 18, 2015 (In Memoriam: Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko - Orthodox Church in America). Fr. Thomas had a program on Ancient Faith Radio which I heard and enjoyed from time to time that was titled: Speaking the Truth in Love. One can still download podcasts and listen to them at the Ancient Faith Radio website. Since this blog is about ecumenism, I wanted to share Fr. Thomas' thoughts on the subject in this post.

On June 20, 2014, Fr. Thomas shared with the audience a paper he wrote back in 2005 when he had been invited to a meeting in Washington D.C. at Georgetown University. The subject of the meeting was ecumenism related, and Fr. Thomas wrote about what the Roman Catholic Church needed to do to unite with the Orthodox Church according to his views. The relevant podcasts were divided into two parts. The links to part one and two, What Does Rome Need To Do? - Part 1, and Part 2, are below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I. Blessings! 

What Does Rome Need To Do? - Part 1 - Speaking the Truth in Love | Ancient Faith Ministries

What Does Rome Need To Do? - Part 2 - Speaking the Truth in Love | Ancient Faith Ministries









References:

http://oca.org/in-memoriam/protopresbyter-thomas-hopko

http://www.ancientfaith.com/

http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/what_does_rome_need_to_do_part_1

Arango's Apologetics Page: You Cannot Serve God and Money

Hello! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. Here in South Florida it is way too hot this time of the year. I wanted to share an article that I recently wrote on my other blog, Arango's Apologetics Page. Blessings! The link to the article is below.


Arango's Apologetics Page: You Cannot Serve God and Money

Asa Kent Jennings and the Armenian Genocide

"His name was Asa Kent Jennings, and he is worth remembering now at the centennial of the Armenian genocide. His memory is also timely now that the problem of Christian persecution has arisen again in the Mideast and refugees are flooding out of Africa seeking safety in Europe (pri.org)."

The foregoing quote is from an article by Lou Ureneck on PRI's The World which was published on April 24, 2015. The article is tittled: The American who saved 250,000 from death during the Armenian genocide. I was actually going to share it as a comment, since it is a related story, on my previous blog post which was titled: The Armenian Genocide; however, after giving it some thought I decided that it was worthy of being independent. I hope you enjoy. The link is below.





The American who saved 250,000 from death during the Armenian genocide | Public Radio International

The Armenian Genocide

Perhaps you have never heard of the Armenian Genocide! Whether we have personal knowledge of historical events or not or perhaps deny that they ever happened, it does not mean that they can be erased or vanished. We know that genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people which is usually and mostly relevant to ethnicity. The Armenian Genocide was a very real occurrence in history. I personally just recently became aware of this atrocity, even though it took place a hundred years ago in Turkey. Most of us know about the holocaust in which Hitler killed millions of human beings, mostly Jews, even though there are still some that want to deny that this also ever happened. Well, the Armenian Genocide is perhaps a 20^th century precursor to the holocaust in which more than a million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman government between 1915 and 1923, actually by 1918 more than a million had already been killed. If you wish to be more informed on this human history event, you can contact the Armenian National Institute in Washington, DC or visit the following link:

Armenian Genocide

Of course, you may ask me why it is I am writing about this on an ecumenism blog. My response is very simple and brief.  Pope Francis recently brought up this genocide and definitely raised awareness almost instantly!  Also, the WCC (World Council of Churches) Executive Committee released a statement on the Armenian Genocide on June 11th, 2015. In fact, the statement by the WCC was a warning read aloud and in a public service of remembrance by Dr Agnes Abuom in Yerevan on June 10th, 2015. The WCC said: “Denial, impunity and the failure to remember such events encourage their repetition (www.oikoumene.org).” You can get the full article for this WCC statement at the following link:

WCC Executive Committee releases statement on Armenian genocide — World Council of Churches

References:

http://www.armenian-genocide.org/genocide.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/12/europe/pope-francis-turkey-armenia-genocide-reference/

https://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/wcc-executive-committee-releases-statement-on-armenian-genocide

The Christian Agenda?

These days everyone seems to have an agenda in one way or another. Political parties whether on the left or the right of the spectrum have agendas and ideas as to what they think are best ways for society to function. Christians, similarly, are also divided in their thinking or perhaps polarized. I simply wanted to reflect a bit on the Scriptures in this post just to see if there is a wrong or right agenda as Christians. My thought is that Christians seem to act according to their reasoning or as to what they seem to understand is right, at times. This forgoing is often based on which denomination they belong. Some adhere to Scriptures (Sola Scriptura), some listen to the Pope, and so on…. But, who is correct? The answer probably is somewhere in the middle, but who is to say that is really correct. John the Baptist once said with relevance to Jesus: "He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30)." Perhaps that was and is the best agenda for all Christians to have, that he must increase, but we must decrease. In other words, that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven increasingly. We are from the earth, and this should be the transformation which takes place within us daily. If John the Baptist said that "He must increase, but I must decrease,” I think that it is wise to adhere to what he said. After all, Jesus said once that “among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11, Luke 7:28)."

Of course, one could argue that John the Baptist was saying this specifically about himself and his mission on planet Earth as the “voice crying in the wilderness,” to reference Isaiah 40:3-5. However, I don’t think that any Christian really believes that "He must increase, but I must decrease” pertains to John the Baptist alone, but also to all of us following in the footsteps of Christ. In fact, I doubt that Saint Paul would have ever said in Colossians 1: 27, “...the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (RSV Bible),” if that was not what we believe. I hope you have enjoyed reading this brief reflection. Blessings!

Reference:

Bible, Revised Standard Version

ABOLISH Daylight Savings TIME

This is one of those things that I feel strongly about. Please like my page on Facebook!



ABOLISH Daylight Savings TIME

Arango's Apologetics Page: Partners in the Crime

Greetings, I hope everyone is enjoying the spring season, although here in South Florida it already feels like summer…it feels hot to say the least. I only wanted to share a new article on the sibling blog, Arango's Apologetics Page. The article is titled: Partners in the Crime. I hope you enjoy reading it. The link to it is found below. Blessings!

Arango's Apologetics Page: Partners in the Crime