WHAT ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS CAN LEARN FROM POPE FRANCIS by Andrew F Estocin (plus) A SHORT COMMENTARY.
source: Orthodox Christian Network
Both of these are excellent publications
my source: Pravmir.com
Power in the Church is not about who kisses one’s hand but how many feet one can wash in the service of Christ.
Pope Francis made this clear when he visited a youth prison in 2013 and chose to wash the feet of the offenders including one who is an Orthodox Christian. “Real power is service.
“Real power is service. As He did, He who came not to be served but to serve, and His service was the service of the Cross. He humbled Himself unto death, even death on a cross for us, to serve us, to save us. And there is no other way in the Church to move forward. For the Christian, getting ahead, progress, means humbling oneself. If we do not learn this Christian rule, we will never, ever be able to understand Jesus’ true message on power.”
St. John Chrysostom echoes this belief from ancient times:
“To love Christ means not to be a hireling, not to look upon a noble life as an enterprise or trade, but to be a true benefactor and to do everything only for the sake of love for God.”
“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures. If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life.”
Sts. Cyril and Methodios, St. Patrick of Ireland, and Metropolitan Philip Saliba are all examples of Orthodox Christians who took incredible risks and in the process grew the Church and spread the Gospel. There is no doubt that each of these men experienced their share of bruises in their work. Pope Francis reminds Orthodox Christians that a risk-taking Church-–a church that is not afraid to fail–is much healthier than a Church that is focused on institutional security and closed in on itself. St. Tikhon of Moscow could not say it better when he writes that
“The light of the Orthodox Faith has not been lit to shine only for a small circle of people. No, the Orthodox Church is catholic; she remembers the commandment of her Founder, ‘Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature and teach all nations’ (Mark 16.15; Matt. 28.19). We must share our spiritual richness, truth, light, and joy with others who do not have these blessings.”
“Let me tell you what I hope will be the outcome of World Youth Day: I hope there will be noise. … I want you to make yourselves heard in your dioceses, I want the noise to go out, I want the Church to go out onto the streets, I want us to resist everything worldly, everything static, everything comfortable, everything to do with clericalism, everything that might make us closed in on ourselves.”
In order for the Orthodox Church to be faithful to Her Tradition, she must step outside of Her comfort zone and proclaim the Gospel in its fullness with compassion and without apology. Evangelism is by its very nature a “noisy” business.
THE SYNOD AND CATHOLIC TEACHING: LOOKING AT THE SYNOD AS A LESSON IN ECCLESIOLOGY
NEXT
The present post is Orthodox
and suggests what Orthodox
can learn from Pope Francis
The next post is Catholic and says
what Pope Francis wants to learn
from the Orthodox.
THE REAL SYNOD HAS YET TO ARRIVE
Source: http://fatherdavidbirdosb.blogspot.com/2015/10/what-orthodox-christians-can-learn-from.html
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“WHAT ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS CAN LEARN FROM POPE FRANCIS ”
What you mean how to pretend to be something you’re not? Orthodox Christianity is the oldest of all of the Christian cults. They don’t lie about being princes, or live like kings off the back of poor people.