Reflections

William Shakespeare wrote the following poignant and perpetually intriguing question in his play Romeo and Juliet:

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

The famous question by Juliet, who rejects the age old feud between her family and the family of her new found love, is usually interpreted as: what matters is what something is, not what it is named or called. For numerous years I have thought about this essential question. Is the essence of something more important than the name by which it is known? 

(more…)

October 28, 2012

A former student of mine was preparing for his college interview. He was given a list of possible and usual questions that the representatives of the schools were likely to ask.  Among the questions was a familiar one and so he asked me, wondering what I would say. “If you could meet anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be? 

(more…)

October 14, 2012

One the reasons that I am a Christian is because of the mystery of God.  And one of the reasons that I am an Orthodox Christian is because the Orthodox Church is sublime in living that mystery. The Church has developed, in the patristic age, an entire theology devoted to the study of what we do not know – how much more mysterious and Orthodox can you get than to study what you do not know? Essentially apophatic theology is the attempt to describe God – always a humbling practice – by exclusion or negation.  In other words to speak only of what or who the Almighty is not. It is closely connected with mystical theology.  In the words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem “we explain not what God is, but candidly confess that we have not exact knowledge concerning Him. For in what concerns God confessing our ignorance is the best knowledge.” (Catechetical Homilies in Nicene and Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1994) Confessing our ignorance is sometimes the best – great idea.

(more…)

September 30, 2012

Many gay, lesbian, and bisexual people have at numerous times in their lives felt like outcasts. We grow up in a world where we are quick to recognize that we do not feel or experience the same things that other kids our age are feeling and experiencing.  While I might have noticed that certain girls in my class were pretty, I certainly did not experience the same stirrings that other boys in my class were feeling when noticing pretty girls. And since in my generation no one was talking about what I was and was not feeling, I was led to believe that I was the only one who was experiencing something different, and thought that there must be something wrong with me.

(more…)

September 15, 2012

I never knew that I was a delusional slave to paganism and the occult and a pathological liar just because I am gay, but according to a recent Orthodox forum, I am. The theme of the recent conference sponsored by St. Stephen Orthodox Church in Lima, Ohio, a parish in the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America, held from August 24-26, 2012, was “same-sex attraction”.  Endorsed by the Midwest diocese of the OCA, it was the latest in a series of conferences sponsored by the parish on “current issues”.

(more…)

September 1, 2012

The Wounded Healer by the late Catholic priest Henri Nouwen is a class work in pastoral theology.  The 2010 edition of the book has two subtitles: Ministry in Contemporary Society and In our own woundedness, we can become a source of life for others. The text was one of many required readings at my Seminary and had a profound influence upon my priesthood and continues to influence my personal life. I would encourage any priest, seminarian or anyone involved in ministry of any kind to pick up a copy of the work.

(more…)

August 19, 2012

Apartheid is the term used to describe the policy of segregation of the non-white population of South Africa before 1994.  It is also used to describe “any system or practice that separates people according to race or caste”. (dictionary.com) There can be no doubt that apartheid, as it was practiced in South Africa, was a violent and terribly inhumane treatment of a majority population by a minority government based solely on race.  However, anytime one set of rules or rights or privileges are applied to one group of people and denied to another based on characteristics beyond their choice – such as the color of their skin, their gender, their age, their disabilities or their sexual orientation – the term apartheid can be used.

(more…)

August 4, 2012

This website – orthodox and gay – has received many emails from gay people, mostly Orthodox, from all over the world.  They are grateful for the words of encouragement and feel blessed to have someone speaking openly, with a positive message, about being an Orthodox Christian and gay.  Every so often we receive some angry emails – usually containing Scriptural references to gay people being an abomination in the sight of God.

(more…)

July 27, 2012

One of the standard jokes is that if your mother is Jewish or Catholic, you are destined to a life of her making you feel guilty for everything. Well, my mother was neither Catholic nor Jewish and did not make her children feel guilty. She taught us right from wrong and when we did make the wrong choice, shaming us or making us feel guilty was never part of the final equation of learning a lesson. Only later in life did I truly appreciate her effective, gentile and sublime way of raising us.

(more…)

July 15, 2012

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” (John 8:7) These are the words of Jesus confronting those wanting to stone a woman caught committing adultery. Jesus is asked for his advice on the matter by those ready to follow the law of Moses, and throw stones at the woman. “Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?” (John 8:5)

(more…)