{"id":4671,"date":"2020-03-13T08:45:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T14:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/?p=4671"},"modified":"2020-03-13T08:45:39","modified_gmt":"2020-03-13T14:45:39","slug":"pastoral-letter-november-26-2017-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/?p=4671","title":{"rendered":"Pastoral Letter March 15, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”<\/p>Matthew 14:22-31<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May\n our God Who is All-Wise, All-Merciful and All-Loving, keep you in His \nsteadfast care. For He loves you in immeasurable ways and demonstrates \nthat love through innumerable miracles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike\n my usual, round-about style of eventually getting to a point, this \nevening, I’m going to dive directly and immediately into the deep waters\n of faith, struggle, doubts and pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coronavirus has occupied much of our time, energies, worries, buying patterns and rational limitations as of late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\n weeks now, we have been monitoring this strange looking virus. Firstly \nwith curiosity. Curiosity begat interest. Interest begat concern. \nConcern begat fear. Fear begat panic. Panic begat a national toilet \npaper shortage. It has now become a part of our daily lexicon. Every \nhour we await updates. Every child awaits school closures. This has gone\n from nothing to bad to worse in an instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\n naturally, when words like “pandemic” and phrases like “unknown \nproperties,” no vaccine” and “travel bans” emerge; not through fictional\n dramas, but through the evening news, we stand up, take notice and \nrespond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\n respond in a myriad of different ways. We respond through rational \nthought. We respond through panic mode. We respond through prayer. We \nrespond through faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also respond through action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your\n Archdiocese, Metropolis and local parish leadership have devised and \nimplemented ways in which the spread of Coronavirus can be mitigated. We\n have done practical things like removing books from pews, increased the\n sanitation of surfaces and advised against kissing anyone or anything \nwithin the church. These are difficult and unnatural directives for \nOrthodox Christians. But they are practices that make sense right now in\n uncertain times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\n are complying with state guidelines and have temporarily halted all \nnon-liturgical gatherings at St. Anna’s for the next two weeks. Longer \nthan that, actually. For the next two Sundays. No Sunday School. No \nFellowship Hour. No Retreats. No Potluck Dinners and Speaking \nEngagements. We are practicing social distancing and we are doing our \npart to stop the spread of contamination and being responsible citizens \nof our community. We are asking our elderly and vulnerable to stay away.\n We are especially asking the sick to wait until symptoms have passed \nbefore returning to church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\n is the easy part. Washing our hands more frequently and greeting each \nother with awkward elbow bumps is changed behavior, but not too taxing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\n be sure, there are countless inconveniences, disappointments, spoiled \nplans, lost opportunities and financial burdens that are only beginning \nto be realized due to the necessary efforts to contain a ravishing bug. \nThere are championships that will never be won, graduations that will \nnever be held and concerts that will never be played. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands\n of people have passed away, infected with Coronavirus. May their \nMemories be Eternal. May their families find comfort. May their loss be \nfilled by God’s Grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\n is hard. It’s likely going to get harder. But what are these \ndifficulties doing to you and what is stirring within you? As Orthodox \nChristians, what is troubling you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eucharist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Common Spoon and Common Chalice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our practice of the Eucharist has caused allot of commotion and has been the topic of hotly-contested debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\n is alright that you have questions. Even doubts. But I strongly urge \nyou to pray about these questions and doubts and come to your own \nconclusions and find your own answers. I am only here to provide some \ncontext and guidance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Church of Greece has recently issued a couple statements that have been ridiculed in secular society. They came out and said without hesitation that “The Coronavirus cannot be spread through Holy Communion.” That is an absolute statement. Some find comfort in that statement. Some find it to be dismissive,\u00a0 dangerous and preposterous. I, for one, am comforted by such a statement, not offended or alarmed. The Church says that Prayer is the answer to the virus. People are yet again offended by such a thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Believe me, it’s taxing on our faith when we read other quotes like “germs don’t live in wine” and “Jesus never got sick.” Silly, quippy statements do not help our cause or calm our fears.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\n really, can we believe for one moment, that the very Body and Blood of \nChrist –  the source of immortality, the Mystical Supper, the Promise of\n the Age to Come, the Consecrated Gifts, our Communion with our Savior –\n can we believe that sickness is lurking there? Is contamination \ninterwoven with Grace? Can filth dominate Perfection? Is the Source of \nLife beholden to the sting of death? Is the Son of Man enslaved to the \nnatural order that He, Himself created? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you get sick from Holy Communion? No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My beloved in the Lord, the secular world looks upon these words as reckless and irresponsible. I get that. I understand that. But I have a faith in the power of Jesus Christ and a knowledge that the Eucharist is the very Body and Blood of Christ. This is His promise. Not mine. “That whomsoever believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\n Archbishop, our Metropolitan and your priest have said, basically the \nsame thing the Church of Greece has said, perhaps not in the same way. \nYes, we removed books. Indeed, we refrain from kissing sacred objects. \nTo be sure, we have limited our social interaction. But our liturgical \nlife and practice of Communion will go on, uninterrupted and undeterred.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\n said, you decide what you wish to do with this information. I do not \ninsist that you receive. God forbid! How could I? But if you choose not \nto receive at this time, do it because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are not prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have not confessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are un-reconciled with your Brother or Sister in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\n now, pious dentists who would never share uncleaned instruments between\n patients, receive Communion Joyfully. Even now, faithful doctors \npartake of the Body and Blood of Christ. Even now, men and women of \nscience have a greater faith in the power of God than a fear that His \npromises are false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Communion practices of the Orthodox Church are not to change. I will prepare, consecrate and distribute the Holy Mysteries of Christ, as has been handed down through the ages. I will personally consume the remaining portions of Communion from a chalice and with a spoon that has been used by the entire faith community. Coronavirus notwithstanding, I would be sick every week and after every Liturgy if consuming from a common chalice was dangerous. Or using a common spoon was gross. Who do you think finishes the remainder of Communion following the Liturgy? The priest and deacon. I thank Him for that precious responsibility. I do not quiver or fall away because of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n the dark of night, and in the midst of the storm, Christ told Peter, as\n the disciple took his eyes off of the Savior, and was pulled out from \nthe consuming waves, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\n us not fall into the same trap. Coronavirus and countless other \nchallenges will befall us. It is He Who saves. Not He who infects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Much Love in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Anthony Savas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PLEASE BE ADVISED:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

YOUR\n WEEKLY BULLETIN AND LENTEN SCHEDULE CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS \nOUTDATED, DUE TO OUR CANCELATION OF SOCIAL, NON-LITURGICAL ACTIVITIES \nAND GATHERINGS OF THE PARISH. PLEASE CONSULT THE PARISH APP FOR UPDATED \nCALENDAR INFORMATION.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastoral-letter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4671"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4674,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions\/4674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}