Returning to Catechesis and Reception

The road to Orthodoxy is usually the subject of blogs, including this one (which started as a "journey" type blog).  The road through Orthodoxy has become a more common theme here, but is rarely discussed as much.

One of the things that has typified our journey to and through Orthodoxy is this -- nothing ever stays the same.  Things change.  People change.  Parishes change.  We lose bishops, even Metropolitan bishops. Even Patriarchs. We change priests. The Church adapts to the new hierarchs and pastors and continues on.  Sometimes we ride those waves out with a smile, sometimes with a tear.  But the Church is ever onward, and so are we.

I was asked last week to sponsor a young man for reception into the Orthodox Church.  I was, of course, happy to do it.  He attends a small Orthodox mission we're involved with, and was being received at the parent church of my home church.  He is also the very first member of St. Patrick Orthodox Mission who was not already Orthodox when the mission was founded.  It was unmitigated joy to help him enter the Orthodox faith.

 

As part of that, though, there was an added benefit of being reminded of why we're here.  Due to some issues we've dealt with, it's been several years since I've sponsored anyone.  It's easy to forget what a blessing it is, even though I've witnessed numerous receptions at my home parish in those years.  It's more intense when you're standing there with the soon-to-be-illumined.  You hear the prayers, the admonitions, the exhortations, the beckoning of the Church.  You remember the brush crossing your eyes, your ears, your forehead, your lips.  You remember the first time you received communion within the Church, and the overwhelming feeling that you were finally home.  There is always joy in a reception.  You are just closer to it as a sponsor.

I am blessed that I will see another round of these this coming Saturday at my own parish.  I will not be a sponsor, but I will see them with a renewed zeal.  I will witness them with a refreshed perspective.  There is something about Holy Week that is a relief, even though you are turning up the volume of services and the length of them as well.  It is a lot of work, and little rest.  And it is worth it if only to be reminded of why we are here -- soon, we will shout "Christ is risen!"

One thing I appreciate about the Orthodox Church and her rituals is this -- the ceremonies, the rites, the services, they all catechize.  They teach us.  Going back and reviewing the basics is good.  Remembering our own baptism is good.  Remembering when we entered into the Church is good. Looking below this to the prior post, where my own reception and that of my family is memorialized in photographic form, is a reminder that we, too, once stood at the doorstep of the Church, begging entrance. Glory to God for the reminder of that joy, and many years to His newly illumined servant, Alfred.  God is good, always.