the Orders of Sts. Ignatius & John

Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “… lay up for yourself treasures in heaven …” (St. Matthew 6:19) One of the most obvious ways of doing this is to giving money to worthy efforts and people in need. His Eminence Metropolitan Philip has strongly encouraged the corporate participation of the Antiochian Orthodox Christians in North America in this matter, with a lot of emphasis on involvement in our own Archdiocese’ benevolent Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch. Here are two websites which give details on the Order: http://www.stmichaelsgeneva.org/Order%20of%20St%20Ignatius%20of%20Antioch.htm & http://www.antiochian.org/Order/who.htm

It’s a lifetime commitment of at least $500 a year. One could also choose to give a lump sum of $15,000 spread out over three successive years. All are welcome: “Come, be a part of our vision for the future and find a new and deeper expression of your faith.” – Metropolitan PHILIP (click on name to access)

The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch gives $8000 a year to the Teen Soyo Special Olympics (click on orange to access)

And I have recently discovered that the Knights Hospitaller (also the Sovereign Order of St. John) are here in America as well. (They were profiled in a post a couple months ago.) “Investiture is by nomination only;” but the following website on the American Hospitallers seems to extend a welcome to potential candidates: http://www.allsaintsofnorthamerica.net/osj.html

Such organizations are an inspiration to us all to focus on giving. Personally it seems either one would have to be “set for life” or simply have the faith that one will have- available to give- $500 a year to the end of one’s earthly life. I would have to be in the latter category, for I anticipate that my wife and I will be on a limited income in our senior years, if the Lord grants us extended lives.

And the state of our American health care system with its runaway costs, well, it brings to mind the wind and the waves St. Peter saw as he approached the Lord on the water. When he feared and began to sink, the Lord Jesus, taking his hand, asked, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (St. Matthew 14:28-31) That question applies also to me.

Of course there’s more to giving than money, as St. John Chrysostom noted:

“For St. John, the dimensions of almsgiving extend to all aspects of human need, from clothing, food and shelter to the needs of soul and spirit. St. John says, “Now charity is not bare words, … but a taking care of [people].” He suggests helping the poor, tending the sick, rescuing those in peril supporting the troubled, and empathizing with both those who weep and those who rejoice” (Homily 7 on Romans). He also notes that a good word is as powerful as money in lifting another’s spirit in many cases. (Homily 19 on Romans). Again, he says “… Alms may be done not only by money, but by acts [such as] kindly standing by [or lending] a helping hand.” St. John encourages imitation of the Good Samaritan’s response to the destitute and strangers. But, he says, “exceed material help; acquaint him with heaven, help him don the robe of righteousness, and be sure to wear your own.” (Homily 25 on Romans)

- from my thesis . That said, there is still the matter of good stewardship of “our” money. Really, as St. Paul writes, “all things are from Him and through Him and to Him” – the Lord, that is. It’s HIS money!

Through the prayers of St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. John Chrysostom of Constantinople, St. John the Merciful of Alexandria, and the prayers of our spiritual Fathers who guide us through our earthly sojourn, deliver us from avarice, and have mercy on us and save us, O Lord Jesus Christ our God.

commentary by Fr. George Morelli

Rev. Fr. George Morelli

Here is a web address for a list of articles by the Very Reverend Father George Morelli, Ph.D, a priest and a psychologist (from the Orthodoxy Today website): http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/Indexes/Morellix.php And here is a profile of Fr. George from the OCAMPR website: http://www.ocampr.org/morelli.asp The articles deal with marriage and parenting, as well as a wide range of other issues, such as:

Making Psychological Referrals in the Parish Priests are poorly trained about psychological problems they encounter.

Overcoming Depression Cognitive scientific psychology and the Church Fathers.

Dealing With Brokenness in the World Learned psychological optimism and the virtue of hope.

Orthodoxy and the Science of Psychology When psychology conforms to the scientific method, it can complement Orthodox teaching.

Asceticism And Psychology In The Modern World Ancient practices meet modern scientific psychology.

Resilience and the Canaanite Woman She exhibits strength and perserverence.

Understanding Brokenness In Marriage Hurting marriages can be healed.

The Beast of Anger Understanding and controlling anger.

Compassion and Love Practical advice for Christian parents.

Disabled by sin, we are all journeying toward greater and greater “participation in the Divine nature” (2 Peter 1) toward wholeness, of mind and body, soul and spirit- if we are cooperating with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Phillipians 2:12-13) Fr. George’s writings can help us- however and to whatever degree we are disabled- as we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.”

Disability Films

The following websites provide lists of films that involve disabilities. Of course, none of them aim at a list of films that are evaluated on the basis of an Orthodox Christian view of reality. And so we must be discerning of whether or not the filmmakers in their efforts are seeking for the true, the good, and the beautiful, which is ultimately found in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the personal God Who is the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to Whom be glory, honor, and worship unto the ages of ages, Amen.

http://www.disabilityfilms.co.uk/ “presents a detailed list of over 2500 films which involve in one way or another various disabilities … listed in 15 categories as well as a “Recommended” category. The website is based in the United Kingdom.

http://www.ameamedia.gr/en/list/filmlist gives the list of films at the Disability & Documentary International Film Festival in Athens, Greece this year. One of the films:

My eyes/Inden for mine øjne Erlend E. Mo│Denmark│2006│ 19 mins

Synopsis: Katja, aged 16, and Catherine, aged 8, both have a unique relationship to music, to nature and to sensation in general. Katja and Catherine are blind, but have developed their other senses and use them more keenly than most people. The director, Erlend E. Mo, depicts the girls; interpreting their sense-based, subjective experience of the world, which is as rich as a world observed by a seeing person, just different. The film represents the intimacy and intensity of the girls’ environment in few words, thus allowing the viewer to partake in a poetic experience and perceive an old world afresh.

And here is a catalog of films at the 2006 “Breaking Down Barriers” International Disability Film Festival in Moscow, Russia: http://festival-eng.perspektiva-inva.ru/?19

Too many choices? Here’s a 2003 list that suggests “25 outstanding disability-based films: http://www.disabilityworld.org/11-12_03/arts/films.shtml

Still too many? Here’s Susan M. LoTempio‘s “very short list” of best disability films- two! But beware; her first recommendation is “Murderball.” The second is “Notting Hill.” http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/departments/reflections/000643.html

In everything give thanks

Reprinted from Nov. 24, 2006 Thank You, Lord, for our daily bread- what we need, when we need it, from Your loving hand. On Thanksgiving, the day after, and forevermore.

The Akathist of Thanksgiving, a CD by the St. Ignatius of Antioch Antiochian Orthodox Mission in Madison, Wisconsin, was written by Archpriest Gregory Petroff in a Soviet Prison Camp, where he passed through the shadow of death into the eternal loving Presence of God. In the midst of great terror and privation, he found within the illumination to grasp “the beauty of the universe … the festival of life … the bread of eternal joy.”

“Glory to you, for every sigh of my sadness … for every moment of joy … for the fragrant lillies of the valley and the roses … for the morning dew, shining like diamonds … I kiss reverently the footprint of Your invisible tread … for the last rays of sunlight … for rest and the gift of sleep … for providential encounters with people … for the love of relatives, the devotion of friends … for our tireless thirst for You … Who have broken the spirits of darkness … for the genius of the human mind … for the life-giving strength of work … Who grant my wishes when they are good … for Whom there is no such thing as a hopeless loss … Who send failures and sorrows to us so that we might be sensitive to the sufferings of others … Who have raised love higher than anything on earth or in heaven … for providential coincidences … for the guidance of a secret inner voice … for revelations in dreams and when awake … Who destroy our useless plans … Who humble pride of heart to save us … for the unfathomable life-giving power of grace … Who have raised up Your Church as a refuge of peace for an exhausted world … Who breathe new life into us with the life-giving water of Baptism … Who restore the purity of immaculate lillies to those who repent … Glory to you, inexhaustible abyss of forgiveness … Who led us to heaven … Who have loved us with love immeasurable, deep, Divine … Who have surrounded us with light, and with hosts of angels and saints … Glory to You , all Holy Father, Who have willed us Your Kingdom … all Holy Son, the Way the Truth, and the Life …all Holy Spirit and life-giving sun of the future age … Glory to You for everything, O Divine Trinity, all bountiful … unto ages of ages.”

“Thanks be to God, Who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor. 15:57) To order copies of this CD or to read the Akathist of Thanksgiving in its entirity see this website:

www.SaintIgnatiusChurch.org

St. John Chrysostom (III)

This year is the 1500th year of St. John’s entrance into the Presence of our beloved God and November is the month of his Feast Day, which our Parish, St. John Chrysostom Antiochian Orthodox Church in York, PA celebrated with our Bishop, His Grace Bishop Thomas last weekend. So it is altogether fitting to bring forward again St. John’s vision as it relates to the theme of this site.

And so here is an article from In Communion magazine, by your truly: 

St. John Chrysostom, Almsgiving, and Persons with Disability, accessible by means of the following web address:

http://incommunion.org/articles/essays/st-john-chrysostom-almsgiving-and-persons-with-disability

I trust you will be uplifted by St. John’s fiery, Holy Spirit-inspired vision, even if it is presented by someone without his golden gifts.

In My Language

from the Inter-Orthodox Community Outreach Network, Inc., (ICON) an 8 1/2 minute You Tube video, “In My Language” by A.M Baggs, a person with autism: http://www.icononline.org/resources/in-my-language/ 

There are by the way, 13 other videos on life with autism that appear on the screen and are available to watch as well.

Ms. Baggs makes the point that the fact that she attends to much more of the phenomena of her environment (that most of us screen out) is an argument against those who would say that “she lives in her own world.” She wonders why she is expected to learn the language of “normal” people when they won’t learn hers.

That there are multiple intelligences is well documented. (See “Multiple Intelligences” by clicking “zzOther Resourceszz” on the Blog Roll and you will find it on the blogroll on that page.) In general society some intelligences are valued more than others, which means we are all probably missing the undervalued contributions of some uniquely gifted persons who act outside the mainstream.

But as I wrote recently, the Orthodox Church teaches that the many languages that were understood on that great day of Pentecost 50 days after our Lord rose was a reversal of the scattering at the Tower of Babel. In the Church, the Holy Spirit can enable us to understand and appreciate the gifts, or multiple intelligences, of others. And our worship is very multisensoral, as Kathy Grant (also a person with autism) has noted very well. (see the post “all my senses”) http://armsopenwide.wordpress.com/2007/08/11/all-my-senses/

 Thus the unique language of a person with autism can indeed by integrated into a community that loves that person enough to appreciate it. Personhood is fulfilled in openness to others through Christ by the Holy Spirit in the Church. 

ICON- an outreach network

The Inter-Orthodox Community Outreach Network, Inc., based in the state of Georgia (USA) http://www.icononline.org/ is “developing a network of professionals, volunteers, clergy, and donors to provide God-centered (theocentric) social service care to help our neighbors overcome life’s challenges.” http://www.icononline.org/about-icon

Church of Greece’s efforts

On Saturday I talked to a local Greek Orthodox priest, Fr. Alexander Veronis, who gave me a list of websites to explore further the role the Orthodox Church in Greece assumes in the lives of persons with disabilities. I found that there were websites which were partially translated into English, with the parts relating to such ministry untranslated. I’ve found a report which explains the Church of Greece’ reluctance to publish the Church’s good works. [As Jesus said, "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret may reward you." (St. Matthew 6:3-4)]

Its just that we Orthodox in America have much to learn from the Orthodox in places like Greece and Russia as to how to live a 7-days-a-week, 24-hours-a-day Orthodox Christian life in all aspects of our lives, including how we are to incorporate persons with disabilities into the life of the Church, serving them and receiving their service.

As to the websites shared previously, the degree to which Orthodox Christian involvement is implied rather than stated as well as the degree that secular values have intruded  will have to be discerned carefully.

Here is a Greek report, which, though not from the Church itself, is very illuminating. It is entitled on “Welfare, Church, and Gender in Greece,” by Effie Fokas & Lina Molokotos Liederman: http://www.student.teol.uu.se/wrep/wp/Wrep_I_pp_288-338.pdf In the Bibliography there are some references to reports from the Church that are available in the Greek language. (See especially “Ekklesia tis Ellados [Church of Greece] 2001 Martyria tis Agapis. To Filantrhopiko kai Koinoniko Ergo tis Ekklesias tis Ellados [Witness of Love. The Philanthropic and Social Work of the Church ofGreece]. Athens: Dept. of Publications of the Church of Greece.)

Here are some excerpts from this non-Church 51 page report:

“Beyond state benefits and the informal but important care provided by the family, social needs that are not fully satisfied by the family or the state are usually filled by private or voluntary sectors (international organisations with Greek branches, such as the Red Cross, SOS Children’s Villages, etc.) and the Church. Therefore, the Greek case is a good example of the Southern European welfare model, with a classic underdeveloped state welfare sector coupled with the important role played by the family and women in providing essential social care. In this bi-polar model, the Orthodox Church is a third source, offering a wide array of social services, including the provision of support services for women and the family (see part II). The Greek example is schematically described as a triangular welfare model (state-family/women-church), in which the family and women seem to act both as providers and receivers of social care.” p. 298

“Finally, there are a variety of state financed programmes for persons with disabilities (such as disability benefits and boarding houses for semi-independent living and full-time living for disabled persons, as well as, activity centres and summer camps for persons with disabilities) and other vulnerable groups (refugees and asylum seekers and Greek Roma communities) in collaboration with NGOs.85.” (P. 301)

“Before highlighting the Greek Church’s actual social work, it is important to note a tendency for it to not publicly promote its welfare work, primarily because it takes place at the level of local interaction between the parish priest and individuals. Furthermore, the Church considers publicising its social work to be contrary to the principles of philanthropy and the Orthodox ethos.190 Therefore, the Church’s organisations and monasteries involved in social activities also tend usually to act locally and informally and, thus, to avoid any type of public visibility of their social work, seemingly being more interested in offering social services rather than receiving public recognition for their work; in this way, they also tend to have an inward focus and operate in a closed network with minimal cooperation with other non-religious organisations involved in similar activities.” P. 318

“The Church’s social services are put into action by local parish priests and other religious and non-religious staff (paid and unpaid laymen and laywomen), working for the Church in various capacities. Moreover, the Church benefits from a large network of volunteers it has created; according to 2001 statistics, the Church has an active network of approximately 23,000 people who are utilised and mobilised on a regular basis, offering their services to the great variety of social services provided by the Church … including … “Christian Solidarity“: charitable funds established by the Archdiocese of Athens and other metropolises; they provide locally, at the parish level, material and other types of support to a variety of individuals (elderly, single mothers, people with special needs, etc), suffering from poverty and financial and social exclusion, such as shelter and food (“soup kitchens”/sisitia), scholarships, child and elderly care, blood donations, etc. In 2003, there were 1,839 such funds. … People with special needs: assistance to individuals with special needs (for example, the blind) including medical care, financial assistance, psychological counselling, institutional care, training and professional occupation and leisure, as part of a wider effort to improve their insertion and integration into Greek society. Some local metropolises, which are active in this area, employ a large number of individuals with special needs (such as in the painting of icons, in gardening, in cooking and kitchens, etc). (pp. 319-322)

Of special interest in this report are the sections “Orthodox Theology and Social Service” (pp. 309-312, 22-25 pdf version) and “Welfare Provision by the Church of Greece” (pp. 315-323, 28-36 pdf version)

more Greek disability websites

The list below was found on a June 14, 2007 post of the SFG Journal “United Hellenism”  http://sanfranciscogreeks.com/blog/index.php?blogid=1&archive=2007-06  in the archives. I did an advanced search on Google for mention of the Orthodox Church in the websites listed below but came up with nothing of consequence. These sites do, for the most part, have English translations. (all but the last one) Perhaps the explanation for the absence of any mention of the Church is that not everything is translated into English, and the parts that do mention the Church are not included. This could also be the case with www.disabled.gr though this would not explain some of the questionable materials on their “Sex and Sexuality” Page. Here are the other sites:

Union of Paraplegic & Physically Challenged
http://www.pasipka.gr/

Greece for the Physically Disabled
http://www.greecetravel.com/handicapped/

Tactual Museum
http://www.tactualmuseum.gr

Sailing holidays in Greece
http://www.disabledsailingholidays.com/

Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders
http://www.autismhellas.gr

Educating People with Disabilities
http://www.specialeducation.gr 

Found another one!

Hellenic Society of Disabled Children

http://www.elepap.gr/ELEPAP.htm 

In Greece

I found a Greek website devoted to persons with disabilities. Both the left side column (at the top) & the right side column (at the bottom) provide access for English speakers.  Disability Now http://www.disabled.gr/lib/

There is also, in Greece, a National Foundation for the disabled http://www.eiaa.gr/index.htm, but its English page doesn’t work. If you know Greek, feel free to explore it.

I found it at the Hellenic Resources Network website: http://www.hri.org/

I also found, for what its worth, A U.S. State Dept. Report on Human Rights In Greece: People with Disabilities: Legislation mandates the hiring of disabled persons in public and private enterprises employing more than 50 persons. However, the law is reportedly poorly enforced, particularly in the private sector. The law states that disabled persons should number 3 percent of staff in private enterprises. In the civil service, 5 percent of administrative staff and 80 percent of telephone operator positions are reserved for disabled persons. Persons with disabilities have been appointed to important positions the civil service, including that of Secretary General of the Ministry of Welfare.

The Construction Code mandates physical access for disabled persons to private and public buildings, but this law too is poorly enforced. Ramps and special curbs for the disabled have been constructed on some Athens streets and at some public buildings, and sound signals have been installed at some city street crossings. Since 1993 the Government has been replacing old city buses with new ones with stairs specially designed for the disabled. Officials say that the new Athens subway lines under construction will provide full access for the disabled.

(from a 1996 report, released by the Dept. of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Jan. 30, 1997) http://www.hri.org/docs/USSD-Rights/96/Greece96.html#Section5 Also . . .

Click on 33: [33] Athens prefecture hosts con’f on innovative support methods for people with disabilities. Also . . .

A Greek government website on “People with Disabilities & the Mass Media” http://www.ameamedia.gr/en finally . . .

An interesting analysis by an Australian Disability Advocacy Association on Greeks, their history in Australia, and their cultural attitudes towards people with disabilities: (take special note of the stories of Daniel and George- toward the bottom of the page) http://www.mdaa.org.au/publications/ethnicity/greek/general.html The Greek Orthodox Church in Australia, you may recall, has a very good ministry to persons with disabilities, Estia http://www.estia.org.au/. And in the U.S.A. there is the Challenge Liturgy Ministry http://www.goarch.org/en/archdiocese/departments/outreach/min-challengeliturgy.asp in which “right worship,” the central matter for Orthodox Christians, (receiving the Lord Jesus Christ) is made accessible. Good things are happening, in terms of service to persons with disabilities. among Greek Orthodox Christians, here and there. And there may be much more, in Greece and the Diaspora, that I have not yet found.