St. Maximos Society

The October 2006 meeting was different than most meetings. Instead of meeting in the living room, we met in the dining room and sat around the table there eating cheese and spreads and sipping wine. Fr. Paschal always has a supply of quality wine.

Below are some of the comments that were made. They are intended for discussion and thought. Nothing is intended to be offensive and if you are offended by what anybody says, that is your problem as far as I am concerned.

There are many things happening in the ecumenical arena. The pope was making a quote when he said something that was very offensive to radical Muslims. In the setting it makes sense. The Muslims are looking for a reason to be fanatic. Ther actions proved tue quote to be even more true. The uslims are a real problem in Europe, especially in England and France.

Rome told the Orthodox Church that we have to get our act together. The most recent meeting of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR affirmed the union between ROCOR and the Patriarchate of Moscow. ROCOR were the bishops who left Russian and went to the pockets of the immigrees. In 1917 Bishop Tikhon petition the Russian Church to give administrative freedom to the American Church.

We as a Christian people have to unite if we are going to survive with the Muslim onslaught. In England the churches are empty. They have gone down by twelve percent in the last few years. Thhe Church of England is on the verge of disappearing as an entity. This was reported over AOL.

Fr. Charles will be back in November. When he gave a talk on Islam, it was very enlightening and very revealing. If you don't convert to Islam, according to the Koran the Muslims have the right to kill you. Recently two Muslim scholars and speakers said that the terrorists do not represent most of Islam.

IUeUntil 1966 everybody lived side-by-side: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Then Israle started talking away land. They bame the blunt of hatred. They are following the Naxis.

Phyllis, one of the three Orthodox present (who is not in any of the pictures for technical reasons, namely she was sitting right next to me and too close for the lens), is part Jewish. Her mother was Itaian and her father was Jewish. The Jews do not recognize her. Many of the American Catholics are just cultural Jews and they consider themselves Jews. Judaism is peoplehood. It is not a question of blood inheritance. Messianic Jews follow the Jewish traditions but they believe that Jesus is the Messiah. A rabbi wrote a theological work on the differences. The Jews believe that there can be no mediator between you and God.

The Muslims believe that God can contradict HImself. We can't put human attributes on God.

When he was a young man, St. Francis of Assissi wanated to be a knight. He was captured and had to be ransomed. He had a deep conversion while in captivity.

When they had the Crusades, he went there for spiritual support. He befrineded Sladin and this is why the Franciscans had control of the Holy Land. Saladin convertaed on his death bed.

Ireland is on the Euro and England is not.

On 22 October Fr. Michael Roshak is celebrating is 30th anniversary of ordination. Unfortunately I will not be able to attend because it is the same weekend as our Russian Festival.

Fr. Michael is becoming the pastor of Three Saints in Asonia CT. He also received an invitation from Russia to go there to celebrate his 30th anniversary. He will heave on Saint Michael Day new calendar and return the day after Saint Michael Day old candar. He will serve with the Patriarch of Russia there on Saint Michael day.

We in the Baltimore area will miss Fr. Michael Roshak. His population is seen by the number of people who travel down to Christ the Savior Mission to worship with him. I have made several trips there myself and I enjoyed every trip. He has a wonderful mission full of wonderful people and I hope that the Mission will continue to grow and prosper.

We will also miss him at the St. Maximos meetings. He is so much more knowledgeable than I about Orthodoxy. He has traveled extensively and I has been in ministry 30 years. I feel honored just for having been his assistant when he was pastor at Saint Andrew Orthodox Church.

Please enjoy the photographs.

You are visitor # since Monday 2 October 2006.