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Mar 25th, 2025
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Today, I had the blessing of hearing a lecture by Bishop Kallistos Ware. He was great! He spoke of the importance of confession, and many other topics. At the end of one segment someone asked him about unity. The man said that he had ten grandchildren, and many belonged to other denominations, and that one was even a Lutheran minister.
Bishop Kallistos continuously emphasized that we must respect the faith of others. We must never proslytize or bully others into converting. He said that just as we Orthodox have been given gifts, or blessings, ( I don't recall the exact words), other have their gifts too, and we must admire and respect them.
He said that we are close to uniting with the other Eastern Churches. He then said, that talks will be proceeding with the RCC shortly, and that as Orthodox Christians we must pray fervently for unity. That the only hindrance towards intercommunion between the Orthodox and Catholic faith, is establishing the exact status of the Pope of Rome.
God Bless,
Zenovia
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Though I was a busy bee at the retreat, setting up and preparing food, I was able to hear alot of what Bishop Kallistos had to say.
In a nutshell, he was BRILLIANT! As my priest said last week, he is probably a saint among us, and he is definitely one of the greatest theologians of Orthodox history!
On all the topics he spoke on (communion, confession/reconciliation, interfaith marriage and interactions, etc.), he did not compromise Orthodox belief and doctrine in any way, but he played down the 'letter of the law' while emphasizing the 'spirit of the law'. His all embracing and loving spirit were evident in all his thoughts.
As for interfaith marriages and interactions, he did indeed use the exact words of 'bully' and 'prosletyze'...as in: we should never do this to another of a different Christian faith tradition! He also said that we should not feel that we need to score 'points'. As Zenovia pointed out, he emphasized the word 'respect' for the spiritual gifts and traditions of other Christians.
I am sorry that no one from the forum, other than Zenovia was able to come. It was truly a memorable event, and one which was a blessing to my community. Vespers were celebrated after the retreat, and I truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in the full church of parishioners, guests and visiting priests. It was an absolutely beautiful service, and to hear the English language the way it is intonated and spoken by Bishop Kallistos is like hearing something magical and beautiful beyond description! (I don't think that even the most ardent pro-Greek language parishioners could argue that, though I might say that his Greek is also excellent.)
Anyway, it has been a long day, and tomorrow we have the added treat of him celebrating Palm Sunday, so it is time to go to bed...Wishing you all a most blessed Palm Sunday!
With love in Christ,
Alice
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Thank you both for your wonderful reports! glad it was so edifying....!
CS
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Praise the Eternal God that we celebrate The Great Pasch on the same day this year. Bishop Kollistos Ware is truly a great man and servant of God, wishing more were likeminded. Perhaps our division could end that much sooner.
Stephanos I
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Praise the Eternal God that we celebrate The Great Pasch on the same day this year. Bishop Kallistos Ware is truly a great man and servant of God, wishing more were likeminded. Perhaps our division could end that much sooner.
Stephanos I Indeed, Father, indeed! He is a bright shining star of holiness, open heartedness, true spirituality of the Eastern Orthodox faith, and love...he even stressed prayerful support (in other words: rather than condemnation, scorn, or judgement) for those orthodox brothers and sisters of the Anglican community who are suffering with the unfortunate turn of events in their church. I would also like to say 'AXIOS', for just this weekend, as he was gracing my parish with his visit, he was elected as a Metropolitan! So now he is 'Your Excellency' rather than 'Your Grace'! AXIOS!!!! Respectfully in Christ, Alice
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That reminds me of those four Greek mothers who were drinking tea and eating Baclavah one day.
One said with a smile my son is a priest and everyone calls him Father. The other Greek mother not to be outdone said my son is a bishop and people call him my Lord.
The third said if these two can boast so can I. Well my son is a Metropolitan and everyone calls him your excellency.
Now there was all abolute silence, I know thats an impossiblity with Greek mothers but let me finish.
All there eyes turned toward the last Greek mother and there was a blank stair on her face. Suddenly her face lit up and she smiled from ear to ear.
My son is 600 lbs and when he walks into a room everyone stands up and says "Oh My God!"
Stephanos I
Axios
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Dear Stephanos,
That is such a good joke. I can hardly wait to go to church to tell it to others.
Orest
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LOL! 
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I knew you would like that one Alice.
Stephanos I
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I'm glad to hear that His Excellency's talk went so well! I wish that I could have made it.
Is there either a video or audio available of the talk? I too am a fan of the Metropolitan (his tape series on Orthodoxy and Human Personhood is second to none!), and find his views on the possibilities of Orthodox-Catholic unity quite refreshing compared to the opinions of some that I read here from time to time. His views on "hawks" and "doves" vis-a-vis the filioque is quite memorable.
God bless,
Gordo
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and find his views on the possibilities of Orthodox-Catholic unity quite refreshing compared to the opinions of some that I read here from time to time. His views on "hawks" and "doves" vis-a-vis the filioque is quite memorable.
His views seems to be the established views of the theologians. What is scandalous is that they are not made known to the Orthodox laity...and I can't help but feel that it might be intentional by those that have their own agenda's.
The talks are at a critical point. This is what I have gathered from Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, (was made a metropolitan during his visit), and another speaker that came to express the happenings at Constantinople. Both Metropolitan Kallistos and the speaker were not too optimistic. It all depends on whether the status of the Pope of Rome can be solved.
We must all pray that the Holy Spirit will open and soften everyone's heart, so that the problems may be solved. The seriousness of the times demands it. As the speaker said, the one thing that the Turks, and no doubt all Muslims fear, is unity between the Orthodox and Catholics.
God Bless,
Zenovia
Last edited by Zenovia; 04/02/07 11:16 AM.
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We must all pray that the Holy Spirit will open and soften everyone's heart, so that the problems may be solved. The seriousness of the times demands it. As the speaker said, the one thing that the Turks, and no doubt all Muslims fear, is unity between the Orthodox and Catholics.
God Bless,
Zenovia [/i] To be sure, this has certainly been the case from the beginning. Let us hope that both Rome and Constantinople can work together and shepherd their respective communions towards an authentic unity. There is so much history and bad will that needs to be overcome. God willing, the Holy Spirit will set us ablaze! God bless, Gordo
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beeeeeautiful!
It really is a marvellous temple. Thanks for sharing those, Alice!
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Wish I could have been there...
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Any members of this forum show up in these photographs? Want to match the face with the names. 
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