Church Shootings in Michigan – STV Response

Yesterday there was a major church shooting in Michigan. Again. You are not wrong if you perceive that these incidents are on the increase. At STV we have had an active shooter protocol since before the pandemic. And it is still in place today. However, this is not a static protocol. We review incidents, such as the one that happened on Sunday, to try to learn how we can better protect our parish family. Our active shooter team will be meeting later this week for this express purpose. All this was begun with Archbishop Peter’s blessing and continues with Archbishop Gabriel’s blessing.

As Orthodox Christians we understand that our life ends exactly when the Lord deems it most expedient for our salvation. And that end will come whether we are in a plane, on the street, sleeping in our bed, or wherever we are. Our days are numbered by the Lord because of His love for us. We are pilgrims on this earth and the Heavenly Kingdom is our true homeland. The Lord allows us to go to Him when we will be as close to Him in that next life as we can be. One of our great struggles is to trust God in this regard. We forget that He loves us more than we love ourselves, and He desires our salvation more than we desire it.

That being said, we do not take a cold, detached approach to this question. We live our lives with zeal and love for God and our fellow man in the beautiful garden He has provided us – not as people just waiting around to die. And we take our responsibility to provide security to our community VERY seriously. We aim to cooperate with God in this regard – to do our best while we trust Him and His providence. That being said, we will not be mounting machine guns on our roof anytime soon. We have to find the happy medium between a parish church as an armed fortress and no security whatsoever. Most of you probably didn’t even know we had a protocol and an active shooter team, or who is on that team. And that is exactly how we want it. But I think, in the face of increasing violence against houses of worship in our Michigan, you need to know that this is something that we are actively managing.

“Fear not – believe only.” (Luke 8:50)

The words of the Lord above have to be our focus in the face of evil. Fear undermines faith. It is hard for us to do anything when we are in fear. So let us march forward as a parish family with this short verse from the gospel on our lips and in our hearts. STV will do everything it can to keep our parish family safe. And we will trust God that He will give us what is best for our salvation. Coming to church has always been an act of defiance in a way. We live in the world, but we strive not to be consumed by the world, and we show this when we come to God’s House and affirm that we desire to follow the gospel. Like that gospel phrase noted immediately above. The Christian life was called “The Way” in ancient times. This is the Way: to be in God’s Church as often as we can be, and to trust Him that He will give us what is best for our salvation.

Please REACH OUT anytime with questions. May the Lord grant those who died yesterday a place in His Kingdom, and comfort to the grieving. And may He continue to bless us at STV in our striving to be a community that trusts His providence, and works together with Him for the best possible outcomes for our parish family in this life and the next!

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory 

Questions: Relics, Holy Communion, Moving at Liturgy

Friends,

I have been asked a few questions lately about Orthopraxis. We haven’t talked about this for a while, so I thought I would write a short note for Blogtushka to address these, and invite an ongoing conversation in this regard. Our priests are always happy to answer your questions. But sometimes you stump us. :) In this case we aren’t going to just make up an answer – we are going to tell you we don’t know, find the answer, and get back to you.

The first question is about venerating relics. We venerate relics just as we would venerate an icon. Make the sign of the cross twice, venerate the relics, and make the sign of the cross again. For children in arms, we would touch their head to the relics or the reliquary – just as with an icon. The question came from the visit of the relics to our parish a few weeks ago with Archbishop Gabriel’s blessing. We are all facing East during the Divine Services, so I don’t see what is happening behind me. Apparently there were some rather inventive ways that the relics were venerated at STV. We applaud creativity in many parts of our lives, but not this one. :) We should seek to venerate relics, icons, etc., just as Orthodox Christians always have. It is good for us to have a default that we do as our fathers and mothers in the faith have always done, unless there is a VERY GOOD reason to deviate from this stream of faith that flows from generation to generation.

The second question is: what time we should arrive to the Divine Liturgy if we plan to partake of Holy Communion? But first, let’s take a step back and cover: when should we arrive to the Divine Liturgy period? The answer is, as a rule, BEFORE the Liturgy begins. Ideally we should arrange for our prosphora, light our candles, and be standing in our place when the Deacon intones the beginning of the first litany. If you have little ones, you are sick, or something of that sort, of course you might come a bit later. It is better to come late and stay to the end than to come early and leave early. Liturgy at STV lasts two hours approximately. One seven-day week has 168 hours. That two hours is 1.2% of the week. Let’s give every little bit of that 1.2% to God if at all possible. 

But – what if I am running late and I have read all the prayers, gone to confession, fasted, and am planning to partake of Holy Communion? Life happens. This is understood. The demons especially work hard when we are planning to do something good, and there is really nothing better we can do for ourselves than partake of Holy Communion. A good rule of thumb is: if you are at STV in time to hear the Gospel reading then you are good to partake of communion. If not – then not. This is a RULE OF THUMB. It is not necessary for you to police your brothers and sisters in this regard. We have no tactical team of enforcers at STV and we don’t want one. We are talking now about YOU. Not about your neighbor. There are those that come late with a blessing for various reasons. You don’t have to worry about those reasons. You take care of you. And if folks with little ones can’t quite make it for the Gospel we are not going to keep the little ones from partaking of communion. This is a rule of thumb for adults.

And now, a final Orthopraxis question that I am sometimes asked, and that we all struggle with. So I think good to review here. What to do with myself during the Liturgy? I mean, I am standing there, but can I move? And if I move when can I move? And finally, what do I do with myself when I am standing there and the Holy Gifts are consecrated, are brought forth for communion of the faithful, etc.? This sounds like a huge answer! I can’t take any more Fr. Gregory! Thankfully, this one can be answered by the two posters below. Please review those and let me, Fr. Colin, or Fr. Vladimir know if you have questions. Note the one about prostrations: no prostrations on knees on Sunday (except for very rare exceptions). On Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, we commemorate our adoption by God as His sons and daughters. Yes – we need to continually strive to actualize that adoption, but because of this spiritual kinship we do not prostrate to the ground on Sunday. Every other day: we do. We just don’t come to church on weekdays that often, so prostrating to the ground seems like an exception. Actually, the exception is NOT prostrating to the ground on Sundays.

WHEN YOU CAN MOVE AT LITURGY

WHEN TO MAKE PROSTRATIONS AT LITURGY

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory 

How Not to Fall to Idolatry in the Midst of Civic Grief

Friends,

I think the piece below is well done (thanks to Fr. Colin for sharing it with me), and so no need to recreate the wheel by writing something myself. A few comments from me at the end though, which I hope provide some value.

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American politics is NOT divided as people claim, it is a SINGLE hellmouth that is devouring us all. 

We use the term "spirit" to describe movements so often that we don't think of the meaning of the word. American spirit, team spirit, holiday spirit. A spirit is something that acts upon us and leads us to actions that are not directly related to us as individuals, to act on behalf of a collective. 

When it comes to matters of spirit, there is no moral neutrality, a spirit can only be aligned with God or against God, and we can discern the spirit based on the impact it has on the world. A spirit that moves us towards God by inspiring selflessness and humility is a Saint or an angel. 

But a spirit that guides one to act upon, what St. Augustine called the libido dominandi, "lust for power", is ALWAYS a fallen spirit. When a crowd is motivated to storm the Capitol, it is a fallen spirit. When someone shoots a public figure that they falsely believe is their enemy, it is a fallen spirit. When people mock a murder or call for revenge, it is a fallen spirit.

The most dangerous and demonic lie in America today is that the other side is a threat to you. The people on the other side of the aisle will take away our rights and harm the innocent. We have judged them culpable, and we must put an end to them before they put an end to us.

But we "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." No man is ever truly your enemy, they are being led by a fallen spirit just like any of us are. Donald Trump is not your enemy, Gavin Newsom is not your enemy. Neither are Netanyahu, Elon Musk, Zohran Mamdani, and neither was Charlie Kirk. 

The ones who bring you to court or even kill you are not your enemies, just as Christ didn't see us as enemies when we tried and crucified Him.

Your enemy is the spirit of MAGA, the spirit of progressivism, the spirits of the Democratic and Republican parties. Your enemies are the spirits of Wall Street, Marxism, Zionism, antisemitism, white nationalism, Critical Race Theory, revolution, conservatism, feminism, the manosphere... 

When you place your faith in any of these things you are acting like the Grand Inquisitor in Brothers Karamazov, who told Jesus Christ "we don't need you anymore, we have made something better". All of these ideologies and theories are attempts to impose our own will and our own vision on the world, our libido dominandi. "Humility, Love, and Beauty will not save the world, our schemes will, we just need to devour anyone in our path". 

There is no division in American politics, all sides are offering you the exact same thing, the world in exchange for your soul.

By Louis Marx

Shared by Fr. John Hogg on Facebook

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Perhaps this excellent piece could only be improved by a short addition from C.S. Lewis’ posthumously published “Christian Reflections”:

“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan.”

Let us then fight only for the ideology that is truly existential, the only party we have as Orthodox people: Christ. If Christ is not driving the narrative of our lives, something needs to be corrected - in us. And if we are not striving to have Christ abiding solely in our hearts, how can we share Christ with others? Historically, mankind is tempted to idolatry. To put something – anything – between us and God. For Christians, who know idolatry is wrong, the idolatry of kings is particularly tempting. We know not to bow down to a statue, but to bow down to worldly power seems harder for us to resist.

Let us remember those who have died that the Lord makes us aware of. If He allows us to know their names, like the name of Charlie Kirk who was assassinated yesterday, then it means He is calling us to pray for them. If they are not Orthodox, let us remember them in our private prayers. Ours is to pray and ask the Lord to give what is best for the salvation of all. He will take care of the rest if we can focus squarely on Him and… “Trust ye not in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.” (Psalm 145)

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory