As many of you know Saint Herman Seminary, Holy Resurrection Cathedral and the Dioce of Alaska is going through some very tough times right now. Glory Be to God that we are going through these struggles and that we can do this together. I am reminded of a scripture verse in Proverbs 4:23 which say’s: “Keep thine heart with all diligence; for out of it flow forth the issues of life.”
We are faced with an opportunity to guard our hearts and to pray and help one another to do the same, and not only within the Orthodox community but for the community of Kodiak at large. It is so easy for us to focus on the wrongs that were committed and to make more or less of the accusations that were brought up, and to judge the hearts of those who are in a position to act upon these charges, especially if we see them not acting at our pace or with our understanding.
This is a time for us to humble ourselves, as well as praying and fasting for those who are in involved, that God blesses them and raises them up to be the leaders they were called to be. Let us pray for the healing of both their souls and bodies.
We are in the midst of a turmoil which will only destroy us if we allow it to. We need to hold people accountable for their actions, just like you would if someone broke into your house and stole your jewelry. You would make sure that guy was caught and brought to trial and have justice served on him. It’s no different in this situation we are facing together as a community. Most importantly we need to get down on our knees and pray asking God for his forgiveness of our sins and for His great mercy on our souls. We need to prepare our hearts through repentance and confession and strengthen it through partaking of the holy and life giving mysteries of Christ By consuming His body and Drinking His blood and when we meet one of those involved in these scandals we can embrace them and give them a thrice holy kiss and ask how we can pray for them.
St. Theophan suggests: “In the morning, after prayer, sit and figure out what you must do during the day, where you will be, with what and whom you will meet, and, when applicable, determine ahead of time what to think, where, what to say, how to keep your spirit and body and so on. This means, that the true Christian must “control himself,” keep control over the actions of his soul, and not permit them to crawl wherever they want. He must be the ruler of his internal condition.”
We need to Guard our hearts and allow the Life Giver to flow forth for all to see and upon seeing they may believe and be Blessed of God. Hang in there dear friends and pray and when prayer just doesn’t seem enough, pray some more.
Because of His Love
Ambrose Stapleton
3 comments:
Ambrose,
His words will not come back void...thank you for encouraging the faithful in your steadfast love to Kodiak, the OCA and The One True Church.
You only make us here in the lower 48 miss you and everyone in Kodiak all the more :)
Sh.Kelley
I second the sentiments of the beautiful Kelley.
Thanks to both of you. I learned alot while you were here in our fair town. I learned alot from the moral support you gave while fixing my non broken starter. Silly me.
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