Worcester offers contract to Manny Ramirez

Posted on by Fr. Peter
This is the best sports story of the season. The Worcester Tornadoes Baseball Team has offered a contract to Marry Ramirez.

According to the website, the team has offered Manny a contract for $24,000 for the teams 94 game season. That comes down to about $3,000 per month. So a wee bit of a salary cut but it might be the only deal that Manny gets this season.

“I feel Manny would really enjoy playing in Worcester and hitting in our ballpark. Although I would be concerned about the cars traveling on I-290 during his at bats, it’s a risk worth taking,” said General Manager, Jorg Bassiacos. Director of Player Personnel Brad Michals added, “Manny certaintly has the stats to be amongst the leaders of the league next season. Although issues regarding health have surrounded him in the past, I think he will find that the shorter schedule will boost his performance to a new level and serve as the ultimate showcase for his natural skill.”

The contract was sent to Ramirez around 2:00 EST on Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

Stay tuned for more news!

House OKs $819B stimulus bill in win for Obama

Posted on by Fr. Peter
WASHINGTON – In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House approved a historically huge $819 billion stimulus bill Wednesday night with spending increases and tax cuts at the heart of the young administration’s plan to revive a badly ailing economy. The vote was 244-188, with Republicans unanimous in opposition despite Obama’s frequent pleas for bipartisan support.

“This recovery plan will save or create more than three million new jobs over the next few years,” the president said in a written statement released moments after the House voted. Still later, he welcomed congressional leaders of both parties to the White House for drinks as he continued to lobby for the legislation.

Earlier, Obama declared, “We don’t have a moment to spare” as congressional allies hastened to do his bidding in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

The Rest of the Story

Orthodox and Scripture

Posted on by Fr. Peter
In Orthodoxy, we hold Scripture to lie within tradition… We do not believe in Scripture and tradition as two separate or parallel sources. Tradition is simply the mind and heart of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Scripture is the authentic core of that which is written down as the Canonical Norm of believing and living. However, Scripture on its own without tradition can lead people astray. Not on account of Scripture itself of course, but by their refusal to attend to the mind and heart of the Church.

In general Protestantism holds to the doctrine of sola scriptura (Scripture alone). The problem with this is, and the question always has to be asked, “The Bible according to whom?” All 38,000+ Protestant denominations claim Christ and the Bible to be correct – even in the face of clear contradictions with others who claim to be of the same denomination. How is the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17 achieved by this?

The Scriptures themselves contradict the Doctrine of sola scriptura.

1 Corinthians 11:2 – “I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.”
2 Thessalonians 2:15 – “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have been taught whether by word, or our epistle.”
2 Thessalonians 3:6 – “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.”

It is interesting that in certain versions of the Bible like the NIV, Protestants have changed the actual meaning of the word from “tradition” to “teachings” in the above passages.

The question then arises, what traditions are we to hold too? The answer has always been: Apostolic Tradition… which Orthodoxy has clung too for 2000+ years.

Change the Culture

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Yesterday in my blog post about my trip to Washington, DC I discussed a post by my friend Huw. In his post Huw makes the case that we need not change the law what we need to change is the culture. How do we change the culture?

One thing that surprised me and at the same time pleased me about the March in DC was the large number of the youth that turned up. It is nice when we old fogeys march but the message that thousands of young people sends in staggering! We are raising a culture now that will not support abortion. I hope and pray that they will never have an abortion. That is how we change the culture.

We change the culture by preaching what the church teach no matter if it is in vogue or not. The church is not politically correct in fact we are the opposite. As Orthodox we say that we preach the true faith, well let’s start doing just that.

In the Gospel for today we read about Zaccheus going up the tree. We went up the tree so he could see Jesus and low and behold Jesus saw him. Our life in the church is the same. We cannot see Jesus is we stay in the same place doing the same thing. We need to climb a tree, go out on a limb and be seen. This is not an easy thing to do for many people. Most of us just want to be part of the crowd and not stand out. That’s fine and we need people like you as well not all of us are called to activism.

But there are trees that you can climb and help to make a difference. Climb the tree of prayer and climb this tree everyday. Zaccheus had a conversation with Jesus, he looked in Jesus eyes and Jesus looked in his. Talk to Jesus don’t just sit and recite all of the prayers that we think we are supposed to say, just have a conversation. And part of that conversation is listening.

Climb the tree of Scripture. Like prayer we need to be people of the book. We need to immerse ourselves in God’s Holy Word and understand and apply it to our lives. Scripture is an important part of our lives as Orthodox and we need to get into it more.

Climb the tree of learning. Get informed and make others informed. Read, read, and then read again. Write letters to the editor and begin, ever so slowly to educate people. We did not get here overnight and we will not get out of this pit overnight.

Remember Sanctity of Life means more than just opposing abortion it is the whole rang of things from the womb to the tomb from conception to natural death.

Here we are 25 days into the New Year. There is still time for resolutions. Let’s make a resolution that we will climb a tree this year and make a difference.

Executive Order — Ensuring Lawful Interrogations

Posted on by Fr. Peter
In my sermon for Sanctity of Life Sunday last week I mentioned that we need to stand up against torture in all of it’s forms. President Obama signed an executive order banning the use of torture by all entities of the US Government.

The problem with torture is that is has been found to be unreliable and more often then not testimony obtained by torture is thrown out of court and cannot be used in the prosecution of the accused.

Here are some statements from various organizations on this ban:

Jim Wallis, founder and President of Sojourners:

• Today, we at Sojourners stand shoulder to shoulder with our sisters and brothers at the National Religious Campaign Against Torture in celebration of the executive order issued by President Barack Obama putting an end to the use of torture. We affirm, with NRCAT, that President Obama has “… rejected the use of torture as an interrogation technique and allowed the United States to again find its moral bearing.” We will continue to walk with our other partners in assuring that this step forward is part of the continuing effort to lead the country back to an embrace of the moral high ground on issues relating to the treatment of prisoners and detainees.

Via Steve Waldman, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’
Committee on International Justice and Peace:

• “Based upon the teachings of the Catholic Church, our Conference of Bishops welcomes the executive order. Together with other religious leaders, we had pressed for this step to protect human dignity and help restore the moral and legal standing of the United States in the world. A ban on torture says much about us – who we are, what we believe about human life and dignity, and how we act as a nation.”

Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism:

• We understand that the process of closing Guantanamo may be lengthy. The profound problems with Guantanamo do not erase the fact that many detainees are dangerous and wish our nation and its people harm. Yet these same detainees have been stuck in a legal no-man’s-land without the ability to challenge their detention through a writ of habeas corpus and without the right to be charged or hear the evidence against them. Many have been subjected to tortuous treatment that defiles both the victim and the perpetrator. No matter the circumstances, every individual, including the most dangerous detainee in our prisons, is created b’tselem elohim, in the image of God, and must be treated with dignity and respect.

No Orthodox response, how shocking!
From: Faith in Public Life

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