From the
Office: Christ is Risen! Cyberpals are back
Food for the Soul: Sunday of
the Myrrh-Bearers – Faithful through it All
An ORthodox Look:
CD: Nobody’s Angel
In the News: Patriarch Pavle Speaks Out On
UN Forces in the Balkans
On the Calendar: Camp Season is
Approaching
Real Questions, Real Answers: Courting
and Dating
Readers Write: Your Favorite Saint, Who
Writes YO-MAIL, Support groups for Homosexuals
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
Hey, readers!
We pray that you all had a
wonderful Pascha and are still celebrating in the miracle of the Resurrection.
How wonderful is God for not abandoning us for our consistent rebelliousness
and self-centeredness? How miraculous is it that we can now live with the
assurance that our life on Earth is just a prelude to an eternal life with Him
and all the people who have passed on before us? How sobering is it to realize
that all our attitudes and actions here on Earth have eternal implications? We
still have a few weeks before Ascension to greet each other with the
affirmation that Christ is Risen. Don’t let time dull the joy that we
experienced on Pascha night.
For all you enthusiasts who
told us you’d like an Orthodox e-mail pal, you'll be happy to hear that we are
re-instituting Cyber pals.
Anyone who is interested in
taking part in this should e-mail us your
We will confirm your info and add you
to the list for a match.
As always, send you thoughts to youth@oca.org!
Joseph of Arimathe'a, a respected member of
the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage
and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if he
were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was
already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted
the body to Joseph. And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped
him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb, which had been hewn out of the
rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Mag'dalene and Mary the mother of Joses
saw where he was laid.
And when the Sabbath was past, Mary
Mag'dalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salo'me, bought spices, so that
they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they
went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another,
"Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" And
looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; -- it was very large. And
entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a
white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed;
you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here;
see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he
is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you."
And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had
come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid. (Mark
15:43-16:8)
In this Gospel reading
on the second Sunday after Pascha, we are brought right back to Pascha, itself.
We are brought right to the incredible moments when the Son of God’s dead body
is taken down from the cross and on Sunday morning the first people learn He
rose from the dead. The reading tells us about the actions of a small group of
people, Joseph of Arimethea, Mary Madgalene, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome.
Each of these persons was so connected to Jesus that even when all His other
disciples and friends deserted Him, they remained and actively did those things
that people did for their loved ones.
This was a
tragic time for these people. They had believed that Jesus was their new leader,
Who was going to free them from Roman occupation and restore Israel to a ruling
nation. On Palm Sunday (The Entrance into Jerusalem) they even saw Him enter into
the city like a king. Instead, they had
to watch Him be betrayed by one of His own followers, beaten and tortured
mercilessly, and killed in one of the most horrific methods of execution ever
devised. These people had been with
Christ for years, following Him, learning from Him, and loving Him. On Holy
Friday their entire world fell apart.
What we learn
from this passage though, is that these Myrrh-bearers weren’t in love with an
idea. They loved a person. Even, in what appeared to be a moment of total
defeat and disappointment, they still loved Christ so much to care for Him:
making sure His body was treated with respect and buried appropriately. The
passage even goes as far to say that the women were so filled with love and the
desire to anoint His body that they hadn’t even taken the moment to think about
how they were going to get to His body, since the tomb was sealed by a great
stone.
We, as
Christians, have a lot to learn from these people. We are not supposed to be in
love with an ideology or belief system. We are supposed to love Jesus Christ,
the Son of God: to have an actual relationship with Him, which motivates us to
do certain things and act in certain ways. A relationship requires communication and openness and that, in
turn, requires prayer and faith.
We also should
learn from them that no matter how much our life may seem to be falling apart,
God is there and will not abandon us to misery. In truth, He most likely has a
plan for our lives that far exceeds anything we could imagine.
Lord, so often my life
seems to take unexpected turns that bring me places I never thought I would go.
Help me to remember that Your Will governs all and that nothing happens without
Your knowledge. Help me to look for You acting in my life and to trust that no
matter how bad things may get, I can look forward to an eternal life with You.
Amen.
MA from AZ
writes:
Could you do an “Orthodox Look” on the Movie Save
the Last Dance and the CD Nobody's Angels?
Well MA, you’ll have to check back in a future
issue of YO-Mail for our look at Save the Last Dance (when it comes out
on video), but here is our take on Nobody’s Angel.
A winner of the “Kids Choice Awards” and one of the
new millennium’s versions of bubble-gum pop music, Nobody’s Angels are
part of the next generation of “girl power” bands.
On the
upside:
·
The entire CD is full of upbeat
positive music that puts the emphasis on being proactive about our life,
friendships, and romances.
·
Its great to listen to a CD
that is not based on anger and despair.
·
Including the song We are
Family is a great reminder for listeners that life is about more than just
boyfriends and girlfriends.
On the
downside:
If you know of
a movie, TV show, CD, book, etc. that you would like us to take “an Orthodox
Look” at, let us know at youth@oca.org.
Patriarch Pavle,
head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, has bitterly criticized UN forces for
failing to maintain peace in the Balkans, following a campaign of violence by
Albanian guerrillas in southern Serbia and Macedonia. "When we
review the facts objectively, it is clear that the United Nations'
peace-keeping mission in Kosovo and Metohija [in western Kosovo] has failed to
achieve its goal," Patriarch Pavle, the 88-year-old leader of Serbia's
dominant church, declared in a letter to the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan.
"What is even worse, the region, which should be under the protection of
the United Nations has become the center from which terrorism, one of the
greatest evils of the modern world, is spreading to surrounding regions."
Readers should
note that the Patriarch has consistently spoken out during this conflict
condemning the injustices and atrocities of the Milosevic reign both in Serbia
and Albania.
If there is
something going on in the news (either Church or non-Church news) that you
think we should report on, let us know at youth@oca.org.
Well it is
that time of year again. Camp season is
approaching and it is time to make your summer plans. There are dozens of camps
throughout North America for youth who are looking for an opportunity to
spend time with Orthodox friends. Most camps are also eagerly looking for young
adults (18+) to help out as counselors and camp staff.
For
information on a camping program near you, go to www.oca.org/yya and follow the links for
Summer Camps. All the contact information you need is there.
WH from
B.C., Canada writes
Q. Hi! Could you
talk about Orthodox position on dating/courting? Thanks
A. Well, we are not quite sure whether you are
asking if the Church prefers one to the other (dating vs. courting), or if you
are asking about the Church’s teachings about romantic relationships before
marriage in general, but we’ll give do our best to cover both bases.
The
Webster’s Dictionary defines courting as “to seek the
affections of; especially : to seek to win a pledge of marriage
from : to engage in social activities leading to engagement and
marriage” and dating as “a social engagement between two persons that
often has a romantic character :
a person with whom one has a usually romantic date.” The major difference
between the two words has to deal with the intent of marriage. People who are courting
enter into a formal romantic relationship in which both are planning to lead up
to marriage, while people who are dating are simply enjoying time with a
person to whom they are romantically attracted.
From the
Church’s point of view, neither one is necessarily better than the other. The
Church would frown, however, on the idea of “playing the field.” The Church
would say that any kind of romantic relationship should take place in the context
of future marriage. This is not to say that you have to plan on marrying every
person you take on a date. You should, however, be open to the fact that this
person could be the person you will eventually marry. An Orthodox priest
recently, commenting on the stories he was hearing about people’s “dates”,
recently made an interesting point. “People don’t seem to know how to date
anymore,” He said. “Dating is a fact-finding mission. You meet someone you are
interested in and take them out to find out more about them. As you find out
more about them, you determine if this is someone you want to spend more time
with. And in the process you even end up finding out more about yourself.”
Hope
this helps!
Next full
issue: The “Evangelical
Orthodox Church”
Got a question?
Send it to youth@oca.org. All entries are
treated anonymously (just a couple letters from your e-mail address and the
state your from) unless you tell us otherwise.
Adam
Brasich from WI writes:
I believe that it would be a good idea to have the YO-Mail readers write an
"essay/reflection" on their favorite saint. I think it would be
interesting and educational. Please put
this article on St. Sava of Serbia in YO-Mail. Thanks!
Please e-mail me to tell me how you liked it.
St. Sava of
Serbia
by Adam S. Brasich
St.
Sava, Archbishop of Serbia, was in 1169 as "Rastko," the youngest son
of the Serbian district judge, Stefan Nemanja. As a young man, Rastko yearned
for the spiritual life. When monks came to the door of Stefan Nemanja, Rastko
ran off with the monks to their monastery on Mount Athos. Then, he took the
name, "Sava." Soon after, Stefan Nemanja became a monk along with
Sava and became known as "Simeon." Later, Simeon, who became a saint,
died in the arms of Sava.
Later, St. Sava and his brother, King
Stefan, formed the Serbian Orthodox Church. When doing this, they separated
from the Greek Church at Nicea. They formed this church under the approval of
the Patriarch, who soon appointed Sava as the Archbishop of Serbia. In the year
1219, the Serbian Orthodox Church was officially formed. During St. Sava's
later years, he made a pilgrimage to the Tomb of Christ in Jerusalem. On his
trip to Serbia, Sava died in Trnovo, Bulgaria, after taking ill during the
Divine Liturgy of the Feast of the Theophany. St. Sava, founder of the Serbian
Orthodox Church, died on January 14 (27), 1235. It is this day that we
celebrate his memory.
That is the life of one of the greatest
saints in the Orthodox Church.
So now, readers it’s up to you. Send us a short explanation or reflection on your favorite saint. Just send it to youth@oca.org and we’ll include it in the next upcoming issue.
TG from TX
writes:
Are
there any resources/support groups for homosexuality in the Church?
Hey,
TG
You
bring up a great point. Unfortunately, there are not any official “support
groups” for homosexuals in the Church. There is little question that this type
of group could be extremely helpful to many people who are dealing with this
issue, as long as any leader would be supportive to members while remaining
true to the Church’s teachings on the subject. The Church has, however, created
guidelines for its priests and clergy, to help them help the people who are
dealing with this.
NS from writes
I'm
eight. I want to know who writes YO-mail?
Ok, NS.
YO-Mail is a project of the Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Youth and
Young Adult Ministry geared mostly for young adults (18+), though as you know,
we have a lot of readers in high school and even middle school. As its
director, I (Fr. Michael Anderson) am the editor and main writer of the issues
you receive. In addition to me, Fr David Subu from PA and Nick Finley from IL
also contribute articles on a regular basis. And don’t forget! We also accept
articles from you, the reader.
Have
something you want to say or something you want to ask other readers? Send it
in! We’ll put it our next full issue. E-Mail us at youth@oca.org.
YO-Mail is designed and distributed by the
Orthodox Church in America's Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries,
P.O. Box 675, Syosset, NY 11791 -- tel +1.516.922.0550 -- fax
+1.516.922.0954
email youth@oca.org -- website
http://www.oca.org/yya