What can we say about this? Have bishops been better at creating heresies than women? I don't know of any female heretics. Whence does schism come from but the egos of bishops?

Is Orthodoxy as tyrannical as its foes? How many books have been thrown on the trash heaps of Oxyrhyncus in order to preserve one's orthodoxy?

Do they really act as Fathers - even though they are celibate and don't know the reality of having to raise children? The scriptures mention managing one's house good before managing the church. If a bishop has never had such a responsibility - can he really be tied closely to the people?

What/where/who is "Oxyrhyncus.

A very ignorant sinner.

quote:

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Originally posted by rick neimiller:
Elias:

What/where/who is "Oxyrhyncus."

A very ignorant sinner.

P.S. I ain't touchin' your post with a 10-foot crozier.

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I'm unclear as to the point of your post.

Historically, heresies have originated both within and outside of the Church hierarchy. Some have been created by men, others by women, all crossing jurisdictional lines. In other words, schism and heresy are equal opportunity offenses.

I would only say that we need to always pray for our shepherds - and love them sacrificially. Bishops, like the original twelve, are men who share the same call to salvation through Holy Baptism that we all share. We should pray for them as our brothers in Christ.

As far as the celibacy question, the passage to which you are alluding was written by a celibate apostle - Paul - who also had many important and inspired things to say about family life. So, in so far as you consider celibacy an obstacle to pastoral work with or concern for the family, your concern is invalid.

Be careful that you do not fall into a spirit of vengance because of past or present offenses - real or imagined. Jesus commanded charity long before the Church legislated icon screens.

Peace,

No, I am quite capable of differentiating between real and imaginary injustices. I have been physically and mentally abused by clergy (at all levels) to know it is not all in my head. I can also tell the difference between the sins of members of the church and the Holiness of the Church professed in the Creed. I forgive those who have treated me with ill-will or for private gain. There are still those clerics which devote their energies to their own personal cult. I have nothing to do with them. My seemingly bitterness with the Byzantine Catholic Church is in dealing with contradictoriness. Many of our higher-ups don’t say what they mean and mean what they say. Actions speak louder than words. The people are pushed and pulled in a multitude of directions with absolutely no identity or mission. We have gone from being Greek Catholic to Oriental Catholic to Byzantine Catholic to Orthodox in Communion with Rome all in one lifetime. What the people are saying ‘in the pews’ is different from what is being written on these message boards; what is being written on these message boards is different from what is being said (or not said) from lofty heights. Our church, as uniate as it can be, is a riddle wrapped in an enigma and spiced with puzzlement. If our church was a horse at a race, we would never get out of the gate because we would be to busy fighting over what color the gate should be or what our number is.

I know priests who have been thrown out because they wish to minister to people not in the “Our People” category. This is the biggest sin. Those who prevent us from evangelizing other people will be just one more skull on that road to hell. I have seen many folks leave without a trace. They are confused. The clergy was responsible for teaching them in the past. Now the clergy wants to ‘re-educate’ the people back to proper ways. Fine. But don’t hold it against the people for being misled in the past. Our uniate-schismatic church can’t even make up its mind what its official name is. I see that the prime example of our schismatic behavior is the multitude of parishes in some communities belonging to several church jurisdictions which first started out as one community. How much effort, money and time has been wasted and squandered on setting up parallel ministries for one community? We have a harder time closing and old parish (only a few miles from another), but find it easy to close a mission hundreds of miles away from the nearest Eastern Catholic parish. How much effort spent trying to teach differences and uniqueness and hatred between rival parishes stemming from one original community? This is not a legacy to be proud of. This is a sign of our road to hell; a legacy of shame. Who taught us this but a bunch of numbskulls.

The point I am trying to make is the big elephant in the middle of the room everyone tries to pretend is not there. Instead of reaching out to share the Good News, we become navel-centered. I pray and support those priests who work hard to spread the Gospel. I try to find answers from our bishops’ official publishing media, the diocesan newspaper; but unfortunately, some of these newspapers devote most of their print to Roman Catholic issues or stories while avoiding about 97% of the issues discussed on these message boards. Why our own bishops have grown silent is a mystery. I don’t know of many teaching-bishops. Like the one man in the parable of the talents, we buried our treasure.

I need to make a pilgrimage.

If memory serves, Oxyrhyncus is mentioned in the writings of the Desert Fathers as a place of monastic settlement (like Skete, the Thebaid, etc). Mebbe there's a later association of which I am unaware.

As far as the road to Hell being paved by the skulls of bishops - I think it speaks of the tremendous danger to the bishop's own soul in having responsibility for the souls of so many, while dealing with his own sinful nature, and all the fears and temptations of such a lofty and public position. Many are not strong enough to face the challenge of serving with unwavering fidelity to the Truth. Ordinary human weaknesses can have disastrous consequences when the "Ordinary" in question is a bishop. Or a priest.

Let's pray for our priests and hierarchs, shall we?

Cheers,

Sharon

Let us pray for our bishops and priests that they get it right this time. There are probably many more clerics in heaven for their hard-working efforts AND living under certain bishops.

Another post mentions the youth congress. This seems to be a light on the horizon. This is good.

Elias