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Pastoral Conference of Clergy of the USA and Canada Dear Reverend Fathers, brothers and sisters in Christ! We give thanks to our Lord that He has allowed us to
gather today in this pastoral conference of the Diocese’s of the USA and
Canada. Following the blessed repose of our First Hierarch, the Blessed
Metropolitan Vitaly, we became orphaned, temporarily left alone, without a
First Hierarch of our Church Abroad, elected by a Bishops’ Sobor. Due to
unsettled attitudes and tribulations even to this time we have been unable to
gather the Bishop’s Council, however, leaning on the will and help of God, we
are hopeful that with one mind and brotherly love between the remaining
diminished group of Bishops, such a Sobor will still eventually take place. It
would be beneficial that this Sobor would take place with the participation of
clergy and elected laity from the parishes. To protect oneself, and in true confession in contemporary
situations, every Orthodox priest must use all his strength to promote
heartfelt work to support his spiritual life, attaching to this all his
pastoral children. One of the strengths for this, outside of the required
church prayers, is the unceasing daily cycle of prayers at home. Everyone, clergy
and laity, must put themselves into this practise – to pray at home daily,
morning and evening (if someone has become especially tired after work, then to
pray at least in an abridged fashion, however, to make this a strict routine). Clergy must specially try to educate themselves in the
Teachings of the Law of God. If even a Reader takes his responsibility
seriously to read every day at least one Chapter of the Holy Gospel, then it is
even more imperative for clergy to relentlessly study all the Holy Scripture,
examine the explanations by the Holy Fathers, and to read the writings by them,
and to gain from this, spiritual inspiration. It is imperative to focus one’s attention on the
protection from attack against our spiritual lives in these times, to guard
ourselves against the feelings of unhappiness, anger and antagonism, battles
within ourselves and with others. St Apostle Paul writes to Timothy “[Those] …are proud,
understanding nothing and have a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal
disputes. From these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicion, and mutual
friction among people with corrupted minds who are destitute of the truth
supposing religion to be a means of gain. Separate yourselves from these.” Archbishop Averky (Taysheff), of Blessed Memory, remarks
that the first and principle practical deed for the pastor, above all else, is
to embed his own life and the life of his family into the life of the church.
Then, he can bring the faithful to the Church. The spiritual life is not condemned
with only sorrow and temptations, but one must attempt to correct himself, to
bring into one’s soul a state of spiritual well-being. Therefore all
activities, all sermons, must begin with a prayer which will give the blessing
of Peace to what is being performed. “The Church throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria was
at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord and with the
consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in number,” (Acts 9:31). “An angel of Peace… Let us ask of the Lord.” “Peaceful lives... Let ask of the Lord.” “A Christian ending…. In Peace let us ask of the Lord.” We pray for this at every Liturgy. All these petitions are
from the Great Ektenias. “Peace be to all” many times is repeated by the priest
at services. Why do we ask for peace so many times? Not only for our lives on
earth, however, this is also an important petition, but in the main, for the
peace of our souls in the spiritual life. Because, as the Church teaches,
asking the grace of the Holy Spirit can only be accomplished through peace,
pacifying the Christian heart, to find oneself in peace with God, with ones
conscience, and with those close to us. It is within this that the meaning of
every pastor and the obligation of every parish lay. (The Lord tells us
straightforwardly, “Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am
among thee”). Gathered together… in one mind, and in love in the tradition of
Orthodox confession and Christian faith. In today’s time of unrest taking place in the church, it
is imperative to bear the trials of temptations, not to give way to lack of
spirit and negatively critical state of the soul, but with the help of God to
gain strength from a Christian way of life, brotherly love and piety and one
mind with our priests, helping to strengthen the Bishops oneness and to stand
against that (and those) who seek to destroy our truth. The Lord told his
Apostles that if their peace and sermons are not accepted, do not relent and do
not be downcast. Archbishop Nikon (Rikledsky) of Blessed Memory, a
half-century ago, during one of his pastoral conferences said “ it is a
horrible time we are living in. All are against us, and if not against us, then
they are not with us. However, is it impossible to have any hope in this
position? No, not at all. On the contrary, great are our assets… First, we have our
greatest possession – True Orthodoxy. Second, the protection within our souls
received from the True Church.” To these words we can add one more asset, the
confession of the unconquerable Orthodox Faith, Faith with the New Martyrs and
Confessors of Russia. Our job as Christians is not temporal, but timeless. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Conqueror over death, remains and will remain unconquerable
as will those of us with Him, if we protect our confession of faith to the very
end. “For those who live according to the flesh are concerned
with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit, with
the things of the spirit. The concern of the flesh is death but the concern of
the spirit is life and peace,” (Rom. 8:5-6). Are these words of Apostle Paul
not applicable in our time, meaningful to us today, to our pastors and to those
gathered here? And is it not the central concern of a pastoral conference to
strengthen ones soul and to fight with the temptations of the flesh? In a pious heart we recognise our weaknesses which grasp
at all of us, it is so difficult to reach the spiritual level of salvation. But
let us not become depressed, let us continue the works of the Lord, with
thanksgiving, kneel down before the Saviour, and to attempt to follow the steps
of the Blessed Metropolitan Vitaly who has shown himself in our troubled times
to be a true confessor of the faith, confessor of truth, and who has delegated
to us by his example the true path to seek for the Orthodox Church Abroad. This
path is narrow and difficult, let no one turn back, but find peace of spirit as
per the words of the Lord “Take your yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am
meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for your souls – for my yoke is
easy, and my burden light,” (Matt. 11:30). This is our path, our course that we are committed to: the
path of our ROCOR. The enemy of our salvation will always attempt to confuse
and shake us, but before us is the security of our spiritual armour. “Striving
to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace,” (Eph. 4:3). And
as Apostle Paul said, “That with one accord you may with one voice glorify the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Rom. 15:6). “May the God of
Endurance and Encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another by
the teaching of Jesus Christ,” (Rom. 15:5). Amen. |
