Volume 61 No. 4 May 2017 VOLUME 61 NO. 4 MAY 2017 COVER: Photo of the cross from EDITORIAL St. George Cathedral of Pittsburgh. The symbol of suffering becomes contents the symbol of victory. 3 EDITORIAL by Bishop JOHN 5 REMEMBERING SOME OF OUR ANTIOCHIAN BISHOPS IN AMERICA by Fr. Thomas Zain 10 BEING FAITHFUL IN THE AGE AFTER GOD by Fr. Joseph Huneycutt 13 CHRIST IS RISEN! … BUT DOES IT REALLY MATTER? 14 FIDELITY IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST by Bishop THOMAS (Joseph) and Peter Schweitzer 17 IOCC HELPING TO MEET THE MANY NEEDS OF SYRIAN CHILDREN 18 THE MUSIC OF THE CHURCH: A WESTERN RITE PERSPECTIVE by Rebecca S. Alford 20 AN “ORIGINAL BRICK”: MATUSHKA JULIANA SCHMEMANN by Shamassey Mary Honoré 23 THE DEPARTMENT OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 27 COMMUNITIES IN ACTION 29 ARCHDIOCESAN OFFICE THE BUTTONS OF OUR LIVES 30 ORATORICAL FESTIVAL by Ousama Hanna 31 MEMORY ETERNAL! OFFHANDEDLY THE OTHER DAY, MY DEAR FRIEND BISHOP THOMAS SHARED THAT HE KNEW HIS EMINENCE METROPOLITAN ELIA (SALIBA) WHO COULD PUSH MY BUTTONS. PERHAPS “HE WHO KNOWS WHO OR WHAT CAN PUSH ONE’S BUTTONS” WOULD BE A DEFINITION OF A FRIEND. TO KNOW ANOTHER’S BUTTONS IMPLIES AN INTIMACY, SHARING OF LIFE, OR AT LEAST STUDIOUS AWARENESS OF ANOTHER. Letters to the editor are welcome and should in- clude the author’s full name and parish. Submis- n any case, we are living in an age of buttons. Some from the Church, and with time (that often brings bet- sions for “Communities in Action” must be approved by the local pastor. Both may be edited for purposes of these buttons are fun, and others are scary. An ter awareness, if not wisdom), we can follow the wires of of clarity and space. All submissions e-mailed and “easy button” magically gets our work done, while our buttons to the source. Once it is discovered, we can provided as a Microsoft Word text or editable PDF. Please do not embed artwork into the word docu- a red button detonates an atomic bomb ending reinterpret or resolve the issues that get in the way of our ments. All art work must be high resolution: at least I 300dpi. civilization as we know it. e buttons that Bishop contentment. THOMAS speaks of, however, are those that activate all After all, Christ took on esh, shared our hurts, died, ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION: U.S.A. and Canada, $20.00 of the unhealed hurts and losses of my life. He has seen and is RISEN FROM THE DEAD! at has every- Foreign Countries, $26.00 me overreact to situations, losing my patience and re- thing to do with healing my hurts and pains. To quote Single Copies, $3.00 sponding poorly. With a little work, I have been able to the Beatles’ John Lennon and Paul McCartney, “I get The WORD (USPS626-260) is published monthly, except July and August, by the Antiochian Ortho- identify and detach from some of the events that left me by with a little help from my friends.” Friends who love dox Christian Archdiocese of North America at 358 vulnerable. God and love me can give me perspective and remind Mountain Road, PO Box 5238; periodicals postage paid at Englewood, New Jersey 07631-5238 and at All of us have had experiences that were over- me of God’s healing ability in my life. Friends can help additional mailing offi ces. whelming, and each of us has found ways to cope, in- me be more reasonable with myself and accept God’s Postmaster send address changes to The WORD, stead of burying, avoiding, isolating or disguising the forgiveness and new starts. 358 Mountain Road, PO Box 5238, Englewood, NJ 07631-5238 memories of these events. Sometimes these coping Many of our buttons are wired to issues that keep re- ISSN 0043-7964 www.antiochian.org. mechanisms work for a while, sometimes that are not surfacing. When an event parallels an early hurt in life, Canada Post Publication Agreement No. 40043404 appropriate, and sometimes they cause us more pain or disappointment, the feelings activated by the current Return Canada address to American International Mail, STN A – BOX 697, than the original event that they were developed to cope challenge get in the way of us using our adult skills. We Photo credit: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Archives St. Vladimir’s Photo credit: Windsor ON N9A 6N4, Canada with. ere is good news. Equipped with a little help seem to regress to the stage of life we were in when an 2 JanuaryMay 2017 2016 e Word 3 EDITORIAL earlier, signi cant event occurred. When I catch myself slipping, I stroke my beard and bring myself back to the present. Most of my early life experiences were from my beard- REMEMBERING SOME OF OUR less days. If you are beardless, perhaps you can nd a similar trick to remind you that you are bigger and wiser than your challenge leaves you feeling, and can bring yourself back to ANTIOCHIAN BISHOPS IN AMERICA the present to use your grown-up skills. Talking out the experience with a friend willing to share some time and witness to Christ’s presence is therapeutic. Christ cares and loves. Fr. Thomas Zain The Most Reverend With a Christian friend we are able to nd ways of accepting God’s will and His desire to Metropolitan JOSEPH give us new beginnings. The Right Reverend SOPHRONIOS (BESHARA) OF LOS ANGELES In April 1933, Archbishop AFTIMIOS married, Bishop ANTOUN Memory is not a static record of past events. Our memories are preserved because they throwing his ecclesiastical status into confusion, as The Right Reverend are attached to our world-view and perspective. Our feelings about these memories age Orthodox Bishop of Los Angeles of the American Orthodox Bishop BASIL with us, so an adult often holds the memories of childhood events to adult standards and Catholic Church from 1928 to 1934 well as the status of the American Orthodox Catholic The Right Reverend understandings. is is of course unreasonable. A child cannot be held to adult standards. Church. is was facilitated by the USSR NKVD inter- Bishop THOMAS Sophronios Beshara, or Bishara, was born in Syria in Sharing with a Christian friend can help us challenge our distorted interpretations or un- national section, under the auspices of Operation Tryst. The Right Reverend 1888. He emigrated to the United States of America on fair thoughts and set us free. Di cult things happen to all of us, and we all take turns mak- Stalin saw the potential unity of Bishops JOSEPH Zuk, Bishop ALEXANDER November 26, 1914, through Ellis Island, after traveling ing mistakes common to humanity. As the popular song title by J.R. Bailey, Rudy Clark SOPHRONIOS, and AFTIMIOS as very dan ger ous The Right Reverend from Broumana, in Turkish Lebanon, through Piraeus, Bishop JOHN and Ken Williams puts it, Everybody Plays the Fool; we are reminded that anything can hap- to his regime. In very short order he had Bishop Zuk Greece. After his arrival in the New World, Sophronios The Right Reverend pen to anybody, and we all take our turn making mistakes, or playing the fool. is inter- murdered and Bishop SOPHRONIOS seriously com- Bishop ANTHONY associated himself with the Syrian Orthodox mission of pretation helps us to see these memories as data without consequence, instead of shame-in- promised. On October 4, 1933, Bishop SOPHRONI- The Right Reverend the Metropolia of the Russian Orthodox Church. ducing episodes that shape our lives. It is Christ who chooses to forgive, and His judgment OS deposed Archbishop AFTIMIOS and assumed the Bishop NICHOLAS In 1917, Sophronios was ordained a priest of the is the one that counts most. Christ allows us to detach from our passions, our fears and our position of Archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox mission Founded in Arabic as Syrian mission by Bishop AFTIMIOS (O esh), who Al Kalimat in 1905 haunting memories. Christ gives us new life, reducing memories to data. of the Russian North American diocese of the Rus- by Saint Raphael (Hawaweeny) earlier had been consecrated an Auxiliary Bishop by Let us make this Pascha a real pass-over from the bondage of our “buttons” to freedom sian Orthodox Church. He Founded in English as Archbishop EVDOKIM The WORD in 1957 in Christ. Let us develop the Christian relationships with clergy and godly members of our also named himself Archbish- by Metropolitan ANTONY (Bashir) (Meschersky), succeeding to Church to support us in our life-journeys, and let us experience the joy of Christ’s empty op of the Holy Eastern Or- Editor in Chief The Rt. Rev. Bishop JOHN, D.Min. the position of St. RAPHAEL tomb, lled with light and hope. thodox Catholic and Apostol- Assistant Editor Christopher Humphrey, Ph.D. of Brooklyn. After his ordi- ic Church in North America. Bishop JOHN Design Director Donna Griffi n Albert nation Fr. Sophronios was as- On November 2, 1933, Bish- Editorial Board The Very Rev. Joseph J. Allen, Th.D. signed, in 1918, to St. George’s Anthony Bashir, Ph.D. op SOPHRONIOS deposed The Very Rev. Antony Gabriel, Th.M. Church in Los Angeles. Bishop IGNATIUS (Nich- Ronald Nicola On May 26, 1928, Archi- Najib E. Saliba, Ph.D. ols), who also had married. mandrite Sophronios was con- Member During the follow- The Associated Church Press Food for secrated Bishop of Los Angeles ing year Bishop SOPH- Ancient Faith Publishing by Archbishop AFTIMIOS, as- Ecumenical News International Hungry RONIOS took part in a Orthodox Press Service People sisted by Metropolitan ELIAS number of consecrations Editorial Offi ce: of Tyre and Sidon of the Syrian of bishops, assisting such The WORD Program Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch 2 Lydia’s Path “A Gift from hierarchs as BENJAMIN Westborough, MA 01581-1841 and All the East, and Bishop EM- (Fedchenkov) of the Rus- e-mail: [email protected] the Heart” MANUEL (Abo-Hatab, or Riz- sian Exarchate of North Subscription Offi ce: kallah Abouhatab) of the Syrian 358 Mountain Road Celebrate America, and Metropoli- PO Box 5238 Orthodox mission of the Russian tan THEOPHAN (Noli) Englewood, NJ 07631-5238 by Giving North American Diocese.