Interview with Bp. Michael about Episcopal Assembly

Interview with Bp. Michael about Episcopal Assembly

^{Office of Communications
Orthodox Church in America
Diocese of New York and New Jersey
RELEASE NUMBER 2010.4.2}

The following interview regarding the recent Episcopal Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Hierarchs of North and Central America, which convened in New York City on 25-28 May, was conducted with His Grace, +Michael (Bishop of New York and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey) on Wednesday, 2 June 2010. A news release about the Assembly is now available on the OCA webpage: http://www.oca.org/news/2168

Question: Your Grace, we appreciate you taking time out of your extremely full schedule to share some of your observations, thoughts and reflections following the historic Assembly of Hierarchs that concluded just last week in New York City.

Bishop Michael: To begin with, I have to say what an incredible experience it was for me, just newly consecrated, to be privileged to be a part of this first Episcopal Assembly. To be there ... to walk among giants ... the great leaders of the Orthodox Churches in this country and in Canada and in Mexico. To see fifty-six bishops gathered together in the same room for the same purpose, was just awesome. As I said, I was privileged to be there. I had been at Ligonier [Pennsylvania, November 1994] as a priest when SCOBA [the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas] hosted such a gathering, and there were half as many bishops. This was an incredible event to be a part of.

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The Great Canon

The Great Canon

by Alexander Schmemann

The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete can best be described as a penitential lamentation conveying to us the scope and depth of sin, shaking the soul with despair, repentance, and hope. With a unique art, St. Andrew interwove the great biblical themes-- Adam and Eve, Paradise and Fall, the Patriarchs Noah and the Flood, David, the Promised Land, and ultimately Christ and the Church-- with confession of sin and repentance. The events of sacred history are revealed as events of my life, God's acts in the past as acts aimed at me and my salvation, the tragedy of sin and betrayal as my personal tragedy. My life is shown to me as part of the great and all-embracinf fight between God and the powers of darkness which rebel against Him.

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The Ancient Church - True Christianity is the Eastern Orthodox Faith

The Ancient Church - True Christianity is the Eastern Orthodox Faith

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ARCHPASTORAL LETTER FORThe Feast of Holy Pentecost 2014

ARCHPASTORAL LETTER FOR The Feast of Holy Pentecost Sunday, 8 June 2014  

Dearly Beloved in the Lord:

“Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.”   ^{(Matthew 5:16)}

The Feast of Holy Pentecost marks the day on which the Holy Spirit Whom Christ promised to His disciples ^(John15:26) came upon them. From that moment, the apostles received “the power from on high,” and they began to preach and bear witness to Jesus as the Risen Christ, the King and the Lord. That day in history has traditionally been known as “the birthday of the Church.”

Saint Luke records this remarkable event for us with these words:

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”^{(Acts 2:1-4)}

This is an incredible account...but it must be noted, that the Feast of Pentecost is not merely the celebration of a happening which took place centuries ago.It is the celebration of what must happen and does happen to us in the Church today. We have all died and risen with Christ in baptism, and we have all received His Most Holy Spirit in Chrismation. We are all indeed “temples of the Holy Spirit” in whom God’s Spirit dwells ^{(Romans 8:1)}. We have, by our membership in the Church, received “the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Pentecost has happened to us ... the fire of the Holy Spirit has been ignited in each of us. But just having that flame burn quietly within us, is not enough.

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