My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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THE PROSELYTE (Part II)
Those interested in converting to the Holy Orthodox Church hunger for sound doctrine, for the authentic Church of Christ. They desire to return to the Mother Church with the unbroken continuity for over the last two thousand years. They are looking for substance and beauty. They want their children to become Orthodox and a Church that will give them a living faith that they will want to follow.
All who embrace the Orthodox Christian faith grow into the conviction of Truth as revealed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and embrace the faith in Christ in its fullness. It is imperative, however, crucial to know what the Orthodox Church teaches and to acquire an "Orthodox mindset" or "phronema". One's understanding of Orthodox Christianity can be realized with the help of the sacred writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church.
One cannot, of course, attain a clear understanding of the Holy Church without having adequate knowledge of the Sacred Canons.
"The Holy Orthodox Eastern Church of Christ resembles a large ship. Just as a ship has its captain, crew, and helm by which it is directed and guided safely to its destination, so in like manner the Holy Church of Christ has her captain, crew, and helm by which she is guided to the desired spiritual harbor of eternal salvation. The Church can no more do without these than a ship at sea. She is likely to meet her eternal destruction without them in the same way that a ship runs the danger of disaster when deprived of them.
Her Captain is Jesus Christ and her crew the clergy and the laity; but what is her help or rudder? It is this sacred book which embodies the Holy Tradition of the Church, namely the Sacred Canons of the holy glorious Apostles, of the Seven Ecumenical and Local Councils (Synods), and of the God-bearing Fathers, as well as the invaluable interpretation and commentary of the most holy Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain. "This book," he states, "comes after the Sacred Scripture, the Old and New Testaments. It is a book of inspired limits set by our Holy Fathers and of the laws existing unto eternity and above all laws."
This sacred book is truly the "Pedalion" ("Rudder"), or helm of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Christ which throughout the ages guides her faithful members to the haven of God's Heavenly Kingdom and to the inheritance and enjoyment of eternal blessings. All members of the Holy Orthodox Church must (in the words of the Seventh Ecumenical Council) "embrace these divine canons and adhere to them tenaciously, as expounded by the trumpets of the Spirit of the laudable Apostles, of the Holy Ecumenical and Local Councils, which have assembled for the promulgation of such precepts, and of those of our Holy Fathers. Illumined by the same Spirit, they have all enacted what is profitable to us."
Since Holy Tradition is equally authoritative in Orthodoxy as Holy Scripture, then truly acquaintance with the "Pedalion" ("Rudder") is of utmost importance for the practicing Orthodox Christian." (The Rudder)
The criterion is the unconditional love of Orthodox Christianity, generated by a strong commitment to the Orthodox way of life and be willing to remain faithful to her no matter what threats or conditions may exist in the world. Only if this love and belief is true can the spiritual journey to Orthodoxy can be successful.
True proselytes can learn from the words and actions of Ruth the Moabite who pledged the following:
"Where you go, I will go; and where you lodge for the night, I will lodge". "Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will die, and there shall I be buried" (Ruth 1:16-17).
May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ guide you as you travel the path to Orthodoxy.
With much love and respect,
+Father George