Well, readers, we checked with our web master and we have something to
report! We are in the process of planning a chat room that would be open
at certain times and posted on the youth page. We are not sure how long
it will take us to establish one yet.
There is a concern about insuring that "sexual predators" can't take
advantage of the chat room to approach people, especially minors. We are
currently trying to determine the best way to handle all this. As more
information becomes available we will let you know.
Words for the wise: If you doubt that there are people who come into
"youth-oriented" chat rooms for not so noble purposes, don't kid yourself.
They are out there. Be careful!
A few suggestions for anyone who might hang out in a chat room:
Rom 6:18-23 (From the Gospel on the 4th Sunday after Pentecost)
According to St. Paul we, as Christians, are now slaves to righteousness.
Slaves: this is not a pleasant word for many of us. It conjures up images
of the African slave trade. The fact is most of us don't want to be
slaves to anyone. Our entire society charges us to "do our own thing,"
"make our own decisions," and "not take anything from anyone."
St Paul's point to us, however, is based upon a very intuitive
understanding of human psychology and behavior. St Paul is trying to tell
us that there is no such thing as being completely self-sufficient and
self-determined. We are all slaves to forces in our life. We can,
however, choose who or what we want to follow.
As slaves to sin -- things opposed to God's command to love Him and our
neighbor -- we fool ourselves like alcoholics thinking "I can say no, if
I want to." We engage in constant gossip about others and don't even
realize we are doing it. We interact with others selfishly, rather than
out of generosity, caring, and love. On the rare occasion the power goes
out and we're left in silence with no where to go, we go crazy out of
boredom. As slaves to sin, we are addicted to living life "our way."
If, however, we say we want to be slaves to God -- to righteousness -- so
many things become clearer. Not only can we say "no," but we do on a
regular basis. As slaves to God, we constantly assess our life to see if
it is living up to His commands. Through His Church, God gives us
concrete rules that take a lot of the guess work out (i.e., We keep our
freedom from food by fasting; we don't have to wonder if we should rob a
bank to pay our bills, etc.). If we are slaves to God, the only thing we
crave and the only one we look to for answers is Him. Instead of trying
to arrange our day to make sure we don't miss a certain TV show or party,
we arrange our day to make sure we still say our prayers, go to Church
services, and help others in need.
And in the end what's the bottom line? It's just as St Paul tells us.
If we live our lives giving in to every impulse, desire, and passion, with
no regard for God or others, our life ends up meaning nothing. All these
things which drive us surely don't love us, and we won't make any
difference in the world by appeasing them. If, however, we give our life
over to God and say we will let Him be our master -- that we will be His
slaves -- we can be a bright light shining in a sometimes dark world. And
though we will die, we can help the world be a little more as it should
be, and will share in Jesus's resurrection to live forever with Him and
the others who love us.
Something to think about:
"O Lord, help me in all things to rely upon Thy holy will. In every hour
of the day reveal Thy will to me. ... In all my deeds and words guide my
thoughts and feelings. In unforeseen events let me not forget that all
are sent by Thee. ... Direct my will; teach me to pray, to believe, to
hope, to be patient, to forgive, and to love. Amen" (Taken from a prayer
for the beginning of the day written by St. Philaret, Metropolitan of
Moscow)
Well, they finally did it. Not only did they make a movie, but they
revealed that the "truth" is indeed out there. For those of us who enjoy
the X-Files, the new film "X-Files: Fight the Future" was true to the
style and spirit of the show. Though some might complain that it was
little different than a regular two-hour episode (but one, we must admit,
with a much larger budget), this is really quite a positive. How often do
movies based on TV shows or books sell out and go Hollywood, leaving
behind the appeal that made them popular. Of course, this does not help
those who are first time X-philes. The movie will be a little difficult
to follow if you have never watched for X-Files. If you never liked the
TV show, the movie is probably not a reason to start.
On the up side:
Instead, the characters' love for each other is developed to new
heights of trust, faith, hope and meaning.
On the down side:
No events submitted for this issue
To advertise your event here send information to:
youth@oca.org
In a recent Newsweek article, columnist Ethan Bronner details the trend of
university students who are dropping out of school for well-paying jobs in
a computer industry which boasts of wealthy stars who also dropped out of
school, like Bill Gates and others. This trend has been brought about by
an explosion in the American computer industry. The Bureau of Labor
Statistics projects a 108% increase in the need for computer professionals
from now until 2006. Today there are an estimated 933,000 jobs in the
this field, and by 2006, the bureau estimates, that will rise to 1.9
million. With the nation's bachelor computer science programs only
graduating 25,000 students each year, this has created an environment
where degrees and educations mean very little.
For many young people, a job paying from $30,000 to $60,000 a year has
become far more appealing than pursuing a degree which may or may not have
any value. In an environment that breeds "get-rich-quick" plans and
strives for constantly achieving more and more, in less and less time,
students are more than willing to forego completing their education for
what society would deem as success.
Others, however, are concerned. Both computer educators and some industry
professionals are concerned that when the overheated market for
programmers and web-site designers cools or shifts in emphasis, those who
have left their studies will be a new breed of laid-off blue-collar worker
without credentials. In response to this, many of those who already left
school to take jobs are looking to go back to school, either part-time or
full-time. Their reasons include long-term job security as well as the
satisfaction of completing their degrees. Many, however, fear that by the
time these young professionals feel the need to return, it may be too
late.
The key to this issue lies in addressing our society's intense desire for
wealth (greed) and instant gratification (the opposite of patience).
Since we have no responses to Chrisa's question for the "Readers Write"
section we have decided to answer it as a "real question." Here's her
question again with a "real answer."
Q.
(from Chrisa Alberts)
Hi! I just read the newsletter (#7). I really enjoyed it!
One issue I would like to discuss, though, is the Church's stance on
forgiveness. I realized fully the importance of this at the
[Orthodox] College Conference [in Ligonier, PA this past December].
We had a speaker who I enjoyed very much, but like so many more before
her, the issue of forgiveness was vaguely discussed. One thing that
separates us from other religions is our belief that God is a
FORGIVING God rather than a vengeful God. And yet we rarely talk
about this. We talk about repentance but not forgiveness.
We say so much to our youth: practice abstinence, don't do drugs,
peace, not violence and yet we overlook the fact that we are all human
and have committed some of these sins. So what do we say then? I
agree on the teachings of what is right and what is wrong, but I just
think we should stress the fact that God does forgive and will
forgive.
Thank you. Chrisa Alberts (you may print my name)
A.
You have brought up a very good point. Very often we hear people
preach about how sin is wrong and that we should repent of sins. The
fact is that there is nothing wrong with that. But too often we see
God depicted as wrathful, unloving, and as you said, vengeful, rather
than as our compassionate Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And sadly,
we often hear Christians preach about repentance while forgetting to
express God's love through their own example.
For us Orthodox Christians, repentance is inseparable from
forgiveness. We repent by asking for God's forgiveness as we make
changes in our lives to realign ourselves with Him. And Christ does
forgive us, over and over. This is what gives us the hope to repent.
Our repentance is how we show our faith in God's loving forgiveness,
since we believe so strongly that He will not turn away from our cries
to Him for help.
For an Orthodox Christian, repentance is not about punishment,
revenge, or hating ourselves; it is about freedom, hope, and healing.
There is a mystery in repentance, a type of transformation of the soul
which is hard to explain. As we "turn our lives around, "repentance
leads us to freedom from our sins and shame as God washes them away.
During the absolution prayer in the sacrament of confession, the
priest tells us to "have no further care" for the sins that we have
confessed and "depart in peace." How could we be so bold if we did
not believe Christ really forgives us?
We should always remember to treat each other with the gentleness of
Forgiveness Vespers, asking each other "Forgive me, a sinner," and
responding to each other "God forgives and I forgive."
Thank you very much for your letter! God Bless!
Next issue: Preparing to Receive Holy Communion
If you have a question, or know a friend who does, send it to us at
youth@oca.org. We'll give you a direct
and concise answer!
Well, readers, we received your thoughts on our past questions submitted
by you!
Here they are!
MA from MD writes:
I was raised in the Serbian Orthodox Church in the United States.
When I was in grade school, we had so many children around my age
that my home parish built a 10-classroom Sunday school to serve over
200 families, most with children. When I go back to my old parish
today, I rarely see any of my old classmates in church and there are
rarely any families with children attending liturgy.
What happened here? Quite frankly, my young Serbian classmates became
young Americans. Speaking only English, they grew up in a church that
either could not or would not speak to them in a language that they
could understand. Virtually all of my classmates married into
different ethnic groups, i.e., other Americans. The Serbian Church in
America, lovingly built by our grandparents and preserved by our
parents, sometimes at a tremendous personal cost, was now isolated by
language from preaching the Gospel to my generation.
It is for this reason that I am quite hopeful about the idea of a
unified Orthodox Church in America. The first time I attended an OCA
Vespers, I was simply overwhelmed. The melodies of the hymns that I
heard were the same that I listened to as a child, but now I could
understand them. I was able to recite the Nicene Creed in my own
language. I sang the Lord's Prayer, along with the choir, for the
very first time.
Despite all of this, I still found a longing for the Church in which
I had grown up. Fortunately for me, I found, near my new home, a
Serbian parish that had joined the OCA. Most Sundays, our services
are completely in English so that my wife, who is converting to
Orthodoxy, and my daughter, who was baptized in the Orthodox Church,
can understand completely. On some Sundays, some Church Slavonic
hymns are sung. The old melodies still stir deep feelings within me.
But now, I know the meaning of every old hymn, thanks to the English
translations that are our norm. Recently, I have been working toward
printing some of the Slavonic hymns in the Latin alphabet so that
anyone can follow or join in them.
As I have grown closer to the Orthodox faith, I had the occasion to
meet many American converts. I must admit that I was a little
embarrassed to discover that they frequently knew more about "my
faith" than I did.
Given all of this, I believe that there must be an Orthodox Church in
America. However, this church must be willing, according to the needs
of the local populace, to express certain ethnic elements lest
resistance to that Church might become a point of ethnic pride.
After looking back on this rather long letter that I have written, I
guess that I have come to realize that we in the OCA are probably on
the right track for the future. So long as we are willing to include
those churches which serve an ethnic community into our ranks while we
move forward in building a church that is uniquely American (which
often means a conglomeration of many ethnicities), I believe that we
can best serve the spiritual needs of this nation.
CH from NC writes:
To whom it may concern,
I wanted to respond to issue #10 of Y0-mail. There was a question in
there about becoming unified as Orthodox youth in North America. The
problem with this concept is that we already are; we just don't know
it. Many of our youth believe that they are GREEK Orthodox or
SERBIAN Orthodox, etc, etc. If we taught our children that first they
are Orthodox Christians and second have an ethnic heritage, we would
get a greater understanding of our unity as Orthodox Youth. Our
nationalities will only last till we die, our faith will take us into
the kingdom of heaven.
Secondly, by saying that we are not united as youth, we are saying
that the Holy Spirt discriminates from parish to parish. What goes in
the chalice at an OCA parish is different from an Antiochian parish.
It is our baptism that unites us, not the hierarchy of the church.
Unity is a gift of the Holy Sprit, not something we feel. If people
have trouble feeling united to one another, try going to a parish of
another jurisdiction or to a parish in another country. Does "Lord
have mercy" have any less meaning to you if you hear it in Korean?
If we break out of the concept that anyone is less Orthodox who
receives communion at a parish other than our own, we will realize
that the body and blood of Christ defies ethnic boundaries. "Taste
and see how good the Lord can be."
I am a youth director at a parish and struggle with this ethnocentric
Orthodoxy in our parish. I grew up thinking that there was no one
else except for our nationality. My greatest lesson in the fact that
I was first Orthodox came when I went to seminary. We had students
from over 15 different countries. The only thing that united us at
times was our faith. We could pray together, chant together and
receive the sacraments in each others presence. This is the Unity of
Orthodox young people in the world!
Sincerely, LI from WV writes:
Hi! My name is Lea Sellas. I'm 16, and a Greek Orthodox Christian
from WV. I think it would be awesome to unite all the various
Orthodox churches into one. In my opinion, one of the best ways to
get the ball rolling would be to start with the youth. I once heard
Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh say (and these are not his exact
words) that speaking of the youth as the future is wrong -- the youth
are the present and they need to be taken care of right now.
I think that by organizing Pan-Orthodox youth groups in large cities,
as opposed to "GOYA" and other groups, all nationalities would be
together to strengthen their bond starting at a young age.
Another way would be to make summer camps, not for individual
nationalities, but for all Orthodox. The change to one unified church
would not be an easy one by a long shot, but these suggestions, I
feel, are just one way to make the transition a little less tedious.
In case you forgot: YO-Mail is your mail.
If you have an opinion about something in YO-mail or something going on
at school, in the Church, or in society, send it in! Send it to
youth@oca.org Don't worry! All entries
will be treated anonymously unless you tell us otherwise.
From the Office:
Update on a Young Orthodox Chat Room
Food for the Soul
And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
... For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to
righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which
you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now
having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you
have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Movie: The X-Files: Fight the Future
On the Calendar
In the News
Students Opt for Computer Careers over College Education
Real Questions, Real Answers!
Repentance and Forgiveness: Making the Connection
Dear Chrisa,
Readers Write ...
More on Orthodox Unity
How can we actively participate in helping to develop a single unified
Orthodox Church in North America where all Orthodox Christians of all
ethnic backgrounds witness to the Gospel of our Lord?
An Eastern Orthodox Christian