SSCORRE!
Saint Sophia Cathedral
Online Resources for our Religious Edification
Topic of the Week –
Living in Truth
In the 1940’s and later, Father Kolakovic warned Catholic Slovaks about the impending spiritual trials awaiting believers under the yoke of communist oppression which included censorship, physical tortures and even death. He saw what was coming and was able to educate Christians to prepare for their persecution. He encouraged his faithful to “See, Judge, Act. See meant to be awake to realities around you. Judge was a command to discern soberly the meaning of those realities in light of what you know to be true, especially from the teachings of the Christian faith. After you reach a conclusion, then you are to act to resist evil….” (p5, Live Not By Lies)
Adult/Family:
“….Today’s totalitarianism demands allegiance to a set of progressive beliefs, many of which are incompatible with logic– and certainly with Christianity. Compliance is forced less by the state than by elites who form public opinion, and by private corporations that, thanks to technology, control our lives far more than we would like to admit…(p8)
It is up to us today to take up this challenge, to live not by lies and to speak the truth that defeats evil. How do we do this in a society built on lies? By accepting a life outside the mainstream, courageously defending the truth, and being willing to endure the consequences. These challenges are daunting, but we are blessed with examples from saints who’ve gone before…(p100)
The same methods from the communist era are being used. People today have a responsibility to search out more information than what they are offered on TV, and to know how to look critically on what they’re reading and seeing. That’s what is different now than before…. (p125)
Christianity has become a secondary foundation in people’s lives, not the main foundation. Now it’s all about career, material success, and one’s standing in society. In these small groups, when people were meeting back then, the center was Christ, and his word that was being read, and being interpreted as applicable to your own life. What am I supposed to do as a Christian? What am I doing as a Christian? I, together with my brothers, was checking my own Christianity…” (p173)
To understand more about the circumstances facing us as Christian families today and what we can do to remain loyal to Christ, read an excerpt and buy the book here: Live Not by Lies
Download this free Reading Guide to help you and your family think about and discuss what you have read.
Read On Big Tech and Christian Freedom.
Listen to the Living in Truth: 38th Annual Schmemann Lecture.
Preschool/Elementary:
“Fr. Thomas Hopko’s chapter about honesty [in the book The Orthodox Faith, Volume 4, Spirituality] opens with the statement that “the wise man who has knowledge lives according to the truth through a totally honest life.” But what does a “totally honest life” look like? Is honesty just about speaking truth and not telling lies? Or is there more to it?…”
Read more On Pursuing Virtue: Honesty from the Orthodox Christian Parenting blog to discuss with your children.
Middle School:
Read this recent story about a Montenegrin Orthodox policeman.
What was the policeman being asked to do for his job? Why didn’t he want to do it? What did he do instead? Why was it important for him to NOT be obedient to his job, but to be obedient to his heart which was aligned with Christ’s teachings; what lie would he have been living?
The man wound up carrying a literal wooden cross during the religious procession, but in quitting his job in order to protect his faith, he was also carrying his figurative cross for Christ and His Church – the cross of struggling in the faith.
Keep this story in your heart. Many times during your lifetime you will be forced to choose between secular things that go against the teachings of Christ and His Church and you will have to make your decision about what you will choose. (For example, will you play sports or attend a birthday party, or any other activity on a Sunday morning instead of participating in Liturgy?) In choosing Christ and His Church you will have to forego a temporary worldly opportunity or reward in order to do so. May this story inspire you and give you the strength to pick up your cross in your struggles for eternal salvation just as the policeman did in giving up his livelihood in order to align himself with Christ.
High School:
“…Even the faithful living in “the West” (for ex., America, Europe, Australia) have experienced a different sort of adverse set of circumstances, a sort of “soft totalitarianism” – mostly sown through popular culture, multimedia entertainment, and slowly, increasingly through the country’s learning institutions, news and information services, and political activities and actions. As the prevailing culture becomes ever more pagan, socialist, anarchist, and militantly anti-Christian, the possibility of outright physical persecution from the civil authorities or one’s fellow citizens appears to be more and more possible….
The times we all find ourselves in are, in truth, a gift from God, for they offer us the perfect opportunity to repent, and turn our gaze upon the Lord of Mercy. And we must consciously pray for the grace to love our neighbor, and even to love our enemies – which means first and foremost those who irritate us, who offend us, who hurt us with their words, who take advantage of us, who slander us, who lash out angrily at us because they are in pain and suffering inside…”
Read the entire article by Abbot Tryphon.
Consider reading this book which teaches some of the informal fallacies so you will be able to spot them easily in an argument or the written word.
A Message from Maria Spanos
I am passionate about our Orthodox Christian faith and seek to help others learn as much as they can about it. My purpose here is to share online resources that help strengthen our relationship with Christ and bind us closer to His Church. I believe they are invaluable in learning about our precious Orthodox Tradition, and are a great aid for teaching family members, friends and others about Orthodoxy. ~Maria
Two of my favorite quotes:
“A true Christian behaves in this life so that it may be a preparation for the future one and not only a life here below. In his actions, he does not think what will be said of him here but of what will be said there in heaven; he represents to himself that he is always in the presence of God, of the angels and all the saints, and remembers that someday they will bear witness of his thoughts, words, and deeds.” — Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Of all the holy works, the education of children is the most holy.”
— St. Theophan the Recluse
