A Letter of a Parish Priest to His Flock (OCA Diocese of the South)

Platina · Jun 15, 2020

tapi said:
It is mostly just a small but vocal minority of more or less deranged people jabbering about Kabbalah, Freemasons, Bill Gates, the CIA, Zionists and so forth. Met. Hierotheos addressed the issue a few days ago as follows:

“The prime minister, after consulting scientists and experts, did not decide to close schools, universities, shops, sports fields, cultural centres, hotels, airports, borders, and to ruin the country’s economy from one day to another in order to hit the Church and to forbid Christians from receiving Holy Communion. I think such thoughts are absurd,” said the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, representing the Church of Greece in the media during the quarantine period.

Of course, Metropolitan Hierotheos himself has also publicly complained about how the Church was treated during the quarantine, and many more bishops of the Greek Church have complained that the faith of the Church was/is under attack. I guess they're all deranged.

walking.away.123 · Jun 15, 2020

Edited for pride.

truefiction1 · Jun 15, 2020

ShiFuBill said:
I wonder how many of those attend all the services and commune regularly.

Complaining and believing your government is knowingly participating in a global Freemason-Zionist-Windows 10 conspiracy funded by George Soros and German Gref with the purpose of destroying your Church are very different things.

Yes, I'm aware, as I do find myself associating with some who are given to conspiracy theories. It doesn't take much, however, for governments to turn against peoples of religious faith and turn them into scapegoats, as we well know from vast historical accounts and records.

From what we're seeing where we are, the Church members who find themselves to be sacrificing the most in their belief in Christ have been the ones, as far as I know, who are concerned about the neglect of Christ's sheep. Many of those who sacrifice the least have decided that they won't even be coming to Church until there is a vaccine for Covid-19 or the threat disappears in some other way.

This may be an over generalization, admittedly, as it doesn't take anyone's personal circumstances into account

rusmeister · Jun 15, 2020

ShiFuBill said:
I wonder how many of those attend all the services and commune regularly.

Complaining and believing your government is knowingly participating in a global Freemason-Zionist-Windows 10 conspiracy funded by George Soros and German Gref with the purpose of destroying your Church are very different things.

As I've already said, there are complex truths which those simplifications simplify too far.

Not David · Jun 15, 2020

ShiFuBill said:
I wonder how many of those attend all the services and commune regularly.

Complaining and believing your government is knowingly participating in a global Freemason-Zionist-Windows 10 conspiracy funded by George Soros and German Gref with the purpose of destroying your Church are very different things.

When the Bank of America donates 1 Billion dollars to BLM then it does sound like some elite involvement.

Platina · Jun 15, 2020

ShiFuBill said:
Complaining and believing your government is knowingly participating in a global Freemason-Zionist-Windows 10 conspiracy funded by George Soros and German Gref with the purpose of destroying your Church are very different things.

Metropolitan Hierotheos says the measures had nothing to do with hitting at the Church. Several more hierarchs said that's exactly what was going on. Met. Hierotheos doesn't only reject (in this statement) more extreme theories involving Masons, etc.

walking.away.123 · Jun 15, 2020

Platina said:
Metropolitan Hierotheos says the measures had nothing to do with hitting at the Church. Several more hierarchs said that's exactly what was going on. Met. Hierotheos doesn't only reject (in this statement) more extreme theories involving Masons, etc.

I'm glad there are people like Metropolitan Hierotheos.

rusmeister · Jun 15, 2020

Not David said:
When the Bank of America donates 1 Billion dollars to BLM then it does sound like some elite involvement.

This seems very possible in light of recent events, but do you have a legitimate source for that?

Not David · Jun 15, 2020

rusmeister said:
This seems very possible in light of recent events, but do you have a legitimate source for that?

Bank of America pledges $1 billion to fight racial inequality - CNN

It says to "black communities" but we will have to see.

walking.away.123 · Jun 15, 2020

Not David said:
It says to "black communities" but we will have to see.

It's clearer in the fifth paragraph:

"Bank of America said the money will expand health services, like vaccination clinics, in communities of color, "support" small businesses, and recruitment of new bank employees in economically disadvantaged communities."

A lot of that money is going to benefit BoA in some way.

InnerPhyre · Jun 16, 2020

I work in a hospital ER doing triage. That’s not my job but my department is shut down due to the pandemic and I’ve been assigned there for three months. In those three months, three coworkers have died of the virus, one of whom was a healthy man in his mid thirties.

Until recently I would see maybe four or five patients come in with covid per day. Since things have reopened however, it has become a nightmare. Initially whenever patients came in with covid symptoms, we sent them to a separate entrance to keep them away from the non covid patients. That is now impossible due to the sheer volume of covid patients we have pouring in every hour of every day. Every time we open a new covid unit, it overflows within a few days.

When you die of this disease it is not quick and not easy. It’s painful and you die alone because your family will not be allowed at your bedside. Every day I see family crying outside the hospital knowing that their loved ones are dying inside and they will never see them again. My state has set records for new cases every day of the past week and it’s getting worse. This isn’t a second wave. We never got through the first wave because everyone just gave up and decided the danger was over.

To anyone who minimizes the danger of this virus, I wish you could know how demoralizing it is to those of us who see the consequences of carelessness and denial. The human misery it is causing is staggering. I’m not part of a vast conspiracy. I’m just a guy trying to keep hospital patients and workers safe.

truefiction1 · Jun 16, 2020

InnerPhyre said:
I work in a hospital ER doing triage. That’s not my job but my department is shut down due to the pandemic and I’ve been assigned there for three months. In those three months, three coworkers have died of the virus, one of whom was a healthy man in his mid thirties.

Until recently I would see maybe four or five patients come in with covid per day. Since things have reopened however, it has become a nightmare. Initially whenever patients came in with covid symptoms, we sent them to a separate entrance to keep them away from the non covid patients. That is now impossible due to the sheer volume of covid patients we have pouring in every hour of every day. Every time we open a new covid unit, it overflows within a few days.

When you die of this disease it is not quick and not easy. It’s painful and you die alone because your family will not be allowed at your bedside. Every day I see family crying outside the hospital knowing that their loved ones are dying inside and they will never see them again. My state has set records for new cases every day of the past week and it’s getting worse. This isn’t a second wave. We never got through the first wave because everyone just gave up and decided the danger was over.

To anyone who minimizes the danger of this virus, I wish you could know how demoralizing it is to those of us who see the consequences of carelessness and denial. The human misery it is causing is staggering. I’m not part of a vast conspiracy. I’m just a guy trying to keep hospital patients and workers safe.

I will make a deal with everyone: I will do my best not to minimize the danger of this virus. What I ask in return, is that Orthodox Christians stop minimizing the danger of being cast for all eternity into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, the fire is not quenched, and the worm does not die. It seems that it would be better to suffer and die from any manner of earthly disease and be spared the fate of those who don't eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, or who otherwise do eat but without discerning His presence. If my words seem inappropriately harsh or fanatical for just some ordinary contemporary, sinful guy such as I am, just remember how harsh His own sayings are with regards to the seriousness of these matters.

Hermit76 · Jun 16, 2020

I would remind the commenters that to show disdain for "conspiracy theorists" is to show disdain for many of the Saints you regularly venerate. The idea of world control by unseen groups is mentioned many times in our collective reading. St. Paisios (pray for us) believed that the Masonic movement had much control in our world. As far as Soros and Gates go you don't even have to dig to find their involvement to sway the world into evil chaos.
How can anyone of us claim Orthodoxy and not listen? We have repeatedly been warned that we are approaching the end. I was told repeatedly in the OCA that I couldn't take those warnings literally. Something is amiss...
When this first started I defended the OCA heirarchs and told others to give them time. The longer we went into the restrictions the more I was disturbed. The communication from my diocese (DOS) was extremely tactless and demeaning to the faithful. Any dissent was dismissed and expelled without pastoral explanation. I finally took my family to another jurisdiction and we will stay there. I didn't come to Orthodoxy for a faith for the skeptical academic elite. I am here for the faith of the peasant. The peasant has no other option but to trust the unchanging God and His Church. Call it foolishness but I believe that what His Eminence describes as "silliness" sounds a lot like the Apocalyptic vision of John.

Jude1:3Contendforthefaith · Jun 17, 2020

Hermit76 said:
I would remind the commenters that to show disdain for "conspiracy theorists" is to show disdain for many of the Saints you regularly venerate. The idea of world control by unseen groups is mentioned many times in our collective reading. St. Paisios (pray for us) believed that the Masonic movement had much control in our world. As far as Soros and Gates go you don't even have to dig to find their involvement to sway the world into evil chaos.
How can anyone of us claim Orthodoxy and not listen? We have repeatedly been warned that we are approaching the end. I was told repeatedly in the OCA that I couldn't take those warnings literally. Something is amiss...
When this first started I defended the OCA heirarchs and told others to give them time. The longer we went into the restrictions the more I was disturbed. The communication from my diocese (DOS) was extremely tactless and demeaning to the faithful. Any dissent was dismissed and expelled without pastoral explanation. I finally took my family to another jurisdiction and we will stay there. I didn't come to Orthodoxy for a faith for the skeptical academic elite. I am here for the faith of the peasant. The peasant has no other option but to trust the unchanging God and His Church. Call it foolishness but I believe that what His Eminence describes as "silliness" sounds a lot like the Apocalyptic vision of John.

I believe that the deception goes far beyond anything people can even imagine.

Heliocentrism is A Lie

Macroevolution is A Lie

Etc.

.

prodromos · Jun 17, 2020

Jude1:3Contendforthefaith said:
Heliocentrism is A Lie

walking.away.123 · Jun 17, 2020

InnerPhyre said:
I’m just a guy trying to keep hospital patients and workers safe.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It's important to have some context from someone who seen the situation close up.
Edited for pride.

Hermit76 · Jun 17, 2020

prodromos said:

I'd like to slow that down sometime and follow the math. Very interesting!

This was my favorite story to tell when I taught Geometry.

GreekOrthodox · Jun 17, 2020

I also work at a hospital and fortunately, we did not see the peak that we had feared mainly due to the shut down. We are having a party for a person who is finally going home after a month of being hospitalized and 17 of those days on a ventilator. I've spoken to my counterparts in areas such as the Bronx and Boston and their medical staff is struggling physically and emotionally from this. They have staff that have not been in personal contact with their families because they dont want to possibly infect them. The Bronx hospital had to bring in a refrigerated truck to use as a temporary morgue.

If we had insisted on keeping our churches open, what would happened to our elderly parishioners? More importantly, what if your priest caught it? We dont even know what the long-term effects are going to be. What if your priest was disabled long-term and unable to serve? The seminaries arent exactly overflowing with graduates (at least HCHC isnt).

InnerPhyre · Jun 17, 2020

truefiction1 said:
I will make a deal with everyone: I will do my best not to minimize the danger of this virus. What I ask in return, is that Orthodox Christians stop minimizing the danger of being cast for all eternity into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, the fire is not quenched, and the worm does not die. It seems that it would be better to suffer and die from any manner of earthly disease and be spared the fate of those who don't eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, or who otherwise do eat but without discerning His presence. If my words seem inappropriately harsh or fanatical for just some ordinary contemporary, sinful guy such as I am, just remember how harsh His own sayings are with regards to the seriousness of these matters.

InnerPhyre · Jun 17, 2020

Your argument is that the Author of Life who created the world out of His loving desire to share His existence with people will send you to hell for staying home out of a desire to not spread a virus that is killing people in the hundreds of thousands. There were saints in gulags and concentration camps. Mary of Egypt was a saint in the desert for decades without a church service. But your need of validation at the expense of human lives demands that churches open and the people who will die are expendable because you can’t go a few months without life being normal.

A Letter of a Parish Priest to His Flock (OCA Diocese of the South)

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