A Moment in a Cemetery
Some time ago, not too long after Pascha, I and several others were working together to give our parish cemetery its annual spring cleaning when an older parishioner remarked in scandalized tones that another Orthodox cemetery in town had just interred the cremated remains of someone ... and with the approval of the bishop no less! When I made note that cremation was just as scandalous and unOrthodox as embalming, another practice that crops up in Orthodox circles, I was gently rebuked. Embalming, I was told, is okay ... it is only cremation which is not.
What?
When I had gone apart with a friend, I began a mini-rant on the heterodoxy of embalming. Until I noticed that he wasn't with me, wasn't in agreement. He showed only the mild patience of an older dog for the excitable yipping of a puppy as he discovers his own tail.
Which was discomfiting. I care about things and that strongly. I care about clean water and clean food, I care about traditional social mores, I care about children and family. And I care about Orthodoxy.
It is bewildering to call a brother or a sister "brother" and "sister" in confidence that they hold to the same beliefs, only to discover that the same brother and sister are not aggressively guarding these self-same beliefs from the predations of the Enemy. In fact, they do not care, and from the vantage-point of their apathy find articulated belief alarming.
A Moment in a Mass Grave
Just in time for the 141st anniversary of the formation of the Dominion of Canada, the news media has informed us that Henry Morgentaler is being awarded the Order of Canada. And I have to say that I am just sick over it. No doubt this event is being widely panned throughout the blogosphere and my small contribution therefore redundant in the extreme, but I cannot be silent.
For those not in the know, Dr. Morgentaler was a G.P. who gave up his practice to set up and run Canada's first abortion clinic. Who, when he was arrested, took the case through the courts and through appeals until it reached the Supreme Court and the prohibition against abortion in Canada was struck down. Who, to this day operates an abortion clinic within a block of Parliament Hill and remains the Canadian abortion activist and so an icon of death, a Canadian Kevorkian for the unborn.
Morgentaler, a Polish Jew who emigrated to Canada after the end of World War II, is a man who survived one holocaust at the hands of the Nazis only to import another holocaust into this country. Although a victim of prejudice-spawned mass murder of a minority group, Morgentaler has seen fit to champion a feminist-spawned mass murder of our minors in utero.
Something terrible has happened to this nation that not only is abortion allowed, but its apostle honoured.
They say that fully a third of my generation was aborted. I don't know how true the numbers are, but I do know that Canada is a wasteland - a mass grave - inhabited by the dead whose blood calls out to heaven. Against this society, against their infanticidal mothers, against the "doctors", against Morgentaler.
Lord have mercy.
- V.
Watercolors of the Unexamined Life
1 week ago
4 comments:
"It is bewildering to call a brother or a sister "brother" and "sister" in confidence that they hold to the same beliefs, only to discover that the same brother and sister are not aggressively guarding these self-same beliefs from the predations of the Enemy. In fact, they do not care, and from the vantage-point of their apathy find articulated belief alarming."
I am battling the same kind of apathy within the Protestant church. Orthodoxy does not seem to matter anymore. Protestants, perhaps, have a reputation for confusion, but our situation is only worsening.
Of course, you and I will disagree over issues like the one you described (embalming), but both of us care deeply about truth, and we are passionate about protecting every bit of it. and yet we (apparently) are the minority.
You are not alone, good man, on any of the counts above mentioned. You have brothers and sisters who fully affirm the faith you hold and defend.
Well over fifty percent of Catholics actively dissent from Church teaching, particularly in the area of sexual morality. And even some of the clergy are apathetic and still a few others are defying the Church openly. I can identify with the disappointment you feel.
I have also heard from various sources that there is an acute awareness among many of your generation, of the "missing ones" from their midst, aborted but not totally forgotten. Perhaps this is a good sign, amongst such a plethora of indicators to the contrary. Or perhaps it is a momentary pause before the carnage continues unabated.
It would seem that those who are predicting a general chastisement of the west, may be close to the mark. It is difficult to see how the present state of affairs could continue or get any worse without consequences. The only real hope for avoiding that difficult time is a large scale change of heart, repentance and return to Christ.
But usually there is a catalyst for such a remarkable moving of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of men. And most often it is an event or series of events that frighten us enough to examine our hearts.
I suppose our job is to be ready, living our faith in its fullness and when events drive our wayward brothers and sisters back to us, we can give them what they need. In the meantime, if we are seen as alarming because of our sincerity of faith, and unwillingness to compromise, we may find ourselves sometimes isolated but with the Apostle Paul we can count it joy to suffer for and with our Lord.
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