2006 Young-Adult Retreat | Antiochian.org Orthodox Church

Annual Pan-Orthodox Young Adults Retreat
Holy Cross Seminary, Brookline, MA
September 15, 2006

ANSWERING BACK
Giving an account for the Hope that is in us
Fr. Ted Pulcini
(Keynote Speaker; http://www.rdrop.com/users/stmary/index.htm)

*The following is in no way a faithful or complete account of Fr. Ted’s presentation. It simply represents those statements which struck home with the transcriber, and in no way do justice the spirit in which the presentation was made. The term “cf.” means to “confer with.”

We are at a time of pronounced redefinition, and must be prepared to give an account, an apologia (that is a defense) for the HOPE that is within us (cf. 1Peter 3:15). Such apologists of the faith were Justin Martyr.

HOW DO YOU START? By listening to the questions!

By the time the “big questions” arise in adults, they have been inoculated to the Church and believe that learning is for children.
Any question which is posed to you requires the experiential and spiritual response; people are looking for answers everywhere. The Orthodox Church has been too busy telling people what the questions are instead of listening to them.

+ “Form” & “Power”
We become the form of religion, its structure, and forget its inherent power (cf. 2 Timothy 3).

+ Refocusing the Apologia
The intellectual and academic traditions need to be set aside for the answers we give must focus on the power that the religion has given us.

THE ANSWER: The Power of Christianity

One must recognize the omnipresent need for salvation (Def.: salvos: wholeness), which should be seen as the means of healing the lost and fractured state in which we find ourselves back to the perfection union with God (cf. Mark 16:17-18; manifestations of healing).

Examples:

1. Justin Martyr’s Second Apology (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/justin.html)

2. St. Gregory the Theologian’s Orations 8 and 18 in which was stated that the Church is the locust of healing.

3. Fr. John Romanides: Having faith in Christ without understanding healing in Christ is no faith at all.

4. Metropolitan HIEROTHEOS Nafpaktos: Salvation as psychotherapy (http://www.vic.com/~tscon/pelagia/htm/b02.en.orthodox_psychotherapy.00.htm#more).

THE POWER SOURCES

1. Asceticism

2. Community

The Dynamics of Askesis (Asceticism)
Salvation is about restoring the perfect integration of body and soul, that is a restoring of the psycho-physical unity.

Margaret Miles’ Four Models of Asceticism¹

1. Self-understanding

2. Learn to control deadening powers (sex and money in particular)

3. Focus your energy

4. Concentrate consciously, that is being mindful of what your mind is receiving and then receiving consciously.

Contemporary Christianity’s neglect of asceticism has led people to search elsewhere for a “fulfillment” type:

+ ROTC (Sense of camaraderie and discipline)

+ Fitness obsession (Prostrations)

+ Attraction to other world religions

Training the Body: A Spiritual Issue
One has to consider what we ingest, our modesty and must simplify our lives.
Regulating pleasure and desire for escapism is good for we are not Gnostics (who considered the body to be bad). We should, however, strive to avoid extravagances which the Vanity of Vanities.

Training the Soul
There is a “scattering” of the soul, of its faculties and powers which affect the

+ Appetites

+ Emotions

+ Will

+ Intellect, the Nous:

Clarifying and enlivening the Nous is accomplished by fulfilling its inherent yearning for the Divine by communion with the Divine:

- Prayer: Personal and liturgical (participatory vs. passivity)

- The Mysteries

- Passions checked

Arena of Asceticism: COMMUNITY
Our culture is diseased by hyper-individuality. There is a loss of concentric circles in our lives, that is our family circle into our friends circle, into our social circle, into our work circle, etc…

THE QUESTION IS EVERYWHERE!
Being an ascetic does not mean playing monk! It must be focused on the context in which you live. When you are approached for answers, you are being asked for an example of the power in religion in your life. For example, whenever someone asks what is the big between Catholics and Orthodox Christians, people generally begin by stating what they aren’t in comparison to the Catholics. The question you were just asked is The Big Question: Who are you? Not what you aren’t.

¹ Miles, Margaret R. Fullness of Life: Historical Foundations for a New Asceticism, Westminster John Knox, 1981.