Fr Benedict Crawford (Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church, McComb, MS) has an interesting post comparing “two translations of a kontakion for Sts. Constantine and Helen (May 21).” Rightly Father points out how in the original Greek, the hymn uses “strikingly military language” that seems to be lost in at least some translations of the text. You can compare the two translations and read the whole of his post here). To his observations–which are excellent–let me add to his observation about the absence of martial language in some translations.

There is a significant difference between the translations regarding the battle that is joined with the Cross. In the first case, the battle is an actual military contest; under the sign of the Cross Constantine is victorious in war. This is lost in the second translation since the battle is internalized and universalized; under the sign of the Cross we are victorious in our ascetical struggle. This second translation–interpretation really–radically shifts the reference at the expense of the historical meaning of the feast.

There is, to my mind, a disturbing tendency among contemporary Orthodox Christians to embrace uncritically secular pacifism and to downplay, if not actively reject, the vocation of the Christian warrior. Yes, pacifism is a legitimate Christian vocation but it is no more–or less–legitimate than the call to serve Christ in military service. Both vocations have produced saints, both can be blessed as “peacemakers” even as both have produced their share of selfish thugs and cowards. “All in all, a disappointment that the OCA text departs so far from the sense of the original kontakion.”

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

h/t Byzantine, Texas

Source:  Online Library of Law and Liberty.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:48 — 36.5MB)

The Supreme Court will soon pronounce upon the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8,

which amended that state’s constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act that was enacted into law in 1996 under then President Bill Clinton. This conversation with Ryan Anderson, co-author with Sherif Girgis and Robert George of the recently publishedWhat is Marriage?, engages the philosophical argument that there is a natural form to marriage which has been instantiated by the western legal tradition in various ways. This lively conversation debates the most basic questions on this subject in a serious and respectful manner. Don’t miss it.

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• Minnesota governor signs same-sex marriage bill into law
• Hints on how the Supreme Court may rule on homosexual “marriage”?

The Catholic apologist Phil Lawler asks “So why does the Pope sound like a socialist?” But immediately after asking, he rephrases the question: ‘Or rather, how have socialists managed to make themselves sound like Christians?” How indeed? “The political Left has been willing to take what it likes from the Bible, while the Right has been unwilling to do so.”  He goes on to say, that socialists

…make their arguments in moral terms, because if the argument is stated purely in practical terms, the socialists will lose. By the same logic, capitalists prefer to state their arguments in practical economic terms. Unfortunately, in doing so, they cede the moral high ground to their opponents. With rare exceptions—one thinks immediately of Michael Novak and of the Acton Institute–defenders of capitalism have not taken the trouble to state their case primarily in moral terms. And that’s unfortunate, because a powerful argument can be made that capitalism, tempered by a Christian moral framework, is the best available solution to the problem of poverty. Continue reading →

An interview with Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ, prominent Byzantine liturgical theologian and lifelong healer of Christian relations between East and West

A welcome interview from the always direct and charitable Fr Robert Taft (Building Bridges Between Orthodox and Catholic Christians)!

Yes there is a stubborn streak of anti-Catholicism among Orthodox Christians that needs to be called out and repudiated by all Orthodox Christians of good will. I certainly have encountered this bias in parishes I’ve served and it is a bias that, sadly, is not limited to any demographic within the Church.

One criticism if I may of the interview.

Christopher refers to “the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church.” As I understand Catholic ecclesiology, the One Catholic Church is a communion of Churches that embraces both the Latin rite and the various Churches who follow the Eastern rite. Likewise, the Orthodox Church though a communion of autocephalous local Churches is nevertheless One Church.

Referring to the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches I think obscures the fact that, whatever our other differences, both Churches are simultaneously One Church and a communion of Churches. Too frequently Orthodox Christians trumpet the local Churches at the expense of the One Church even as Catholic Christians emphasize the One Church at the expense of the existence of autonomous, self-governing particular churches in full communion with the Pope that make up the various Eastern Catholic Churches.

So heres the interview.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

The April 22nd kidnapping of Syrian archbishops Mar Gregorios Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, and the killing of their driver, has reminded us once again of the vulnerability of ancient Christian peoples living in the Middle East. More than 1,000 Christians have been killed to date in the Syrian conflict and more than 80 churches have been destroyed. The majority of Christians in Syria are Greek or Syriac Orthodox or Melkite Greek Catholic. This recent violence in Syria can remind us to pray for suffering Christians in the Middle East and afford us the opportunity to practice solidarity with our Greek Catholic and Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters.

Catholic World Report had the recent privilege of asking Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ for his perspective on current Orthodox-Catholic relations. Father Taft has been the leading scholar in Byzantine liturgical studies for decades. Taft has devoted his life to preserving the liturgical treasury of the East and building bridges between Orthodox and Catholic Christians. As a young Jesuit, Taft first became interested in the liturgical traditions of the Christian East while teaching at the Baghdad Jesuit College in Iraq (1956-1959).

In 1963, Taft was ordained a Catholic priest of the Byzantine Slavonic (Russian) Rite. He is Professor-emeritus of Oriental Liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, where he received his doctorate in 1970 and remained to teach for 38 years. The Oriental Institute is the most prestigious institute in the world for Eastern Christian studies.

A prolific writer, his bibliography comprises more than 800 articles and 26 books, including A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (vols. II-VI), Orientalia Christiana Analecta, Rome, 1978-2013. Several of his writings have been translated into other languages.

Taft is the personal friend of many prominent Orthodox scholars, living and deceased, like Father Alexander Schmemann and Father John Meyendorff. He has many friends in and ties to the Russian Orthodox community, where he is admired and respected. For example, he directed the doctoral studies for both of St. Vladimir Seminary’s liturgical professors: Paul Meyendorff and Father Alexander Rentel.

CWR: Father Robert, thank you very much for your willingness to share with us some of your recent thoughts on Eastern Christian ecumenism.

Many people who are sensitive to Orthodox-Catholic dialogue noticed that when Pope Francis appeared on the balcony a month ago, he was not only very humble, but spoke of the Church of Rome as the Church “which presides in love” and referred to himself as the bishop of Rome concerned for the Christians of Rome. These past few weeks he has definitely set the tone for his pontificate.

This quotation from the second-century letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Roman Church, “which presides in love,” could not have been coincidence considering Pope Francis’ noteworthy sensitivities to Eastern Christian ecclesiology. Plus, the historically unprecedented response to Francis’ election in the form of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s attendance at the papal installation Mass seems to mark Pope Francis as another welcomed bridge-builder between East and West. As an aside, I think it is beautiful that pontifex means “bridge-builder” in Latin. Perhaps Pope Francis will bring a new understanding of that title through his ecumenical dialogue and his local focus on the duties of the bishop of Rome? Could you comment on how you think Pope Francis’ humble “style” will be viewed by Orthodox Christians? Continue reading →

Jesus Christ is the standard of what it means to be fully and wholly human. And it is to Christ that we should look to understand what it means to be humble. Unfortunately, we tend to look at our own ideals about Jesus rather than at Him.

But look what St John Chrysostom says about the Jesus in his Paschal Homily:

He has destroyed death by undergoing death.
He has despoiled hell by descending into hell.
He vexed it even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he cried:
Hell was filled with bitterness when it met Thee face to face below;
filled with bitterness, for it was brought to nothing;
filled with bitterness, for it was mocked;
filled with bitterness, for it was overthrown;
filled with bitterness, for it was put in chains.
Hell received a body, and encountered God.

It received earth, and confronted heaven.
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?

Look at the lines towards the end of the quote “Hell received a body and encountered God.//It received earth and confronted heaven.” Far from being weak or a door mat, Jesus is subtle, clever even. And He uses His ingenuity not simply to liberate us from the power of sin and death. No, He “destroyed death” and “despoiled hell.” Hell is made bitter, “brought to nothing; … mocked; … overthrown; … put in chains.” The humility of Jesus is anything but passive; divine humility is strong because it reflects God’s love for us.

Humility makes me strong because it frees me from myself and makes me eager to give myself away on love for the sake of your sake. And this it does not by stripping me of self-worth but by showing me my value in the eyes of God.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory