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Submitted January 18, 2005
Orr, Rentas,
Confusion, Communion |
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Editor:
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Mr. Jim Rentas isn't the only one scratching his
head over Mr. Christopher
Orr's 4 January 2004 letter to "The Orthodox
News," regarding communion
And intercommunion. I found it quite confusing
too. But just last month,
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
North America ran the
following article on this issue ("Personal
Integrity and the Closed Chalice") by
Presbyter Steven Salaris of Albany, New York, in
its official monthly
publication, "The Word" (December 2004), which
makes the Church's
position quite plain in an orthodox, clear and
unambiguous say:
"One of the
most difficult and sensitive areas that our clergy
must deal
with when non-Orthodox attend the Divine Liturgy
is the 'closed chalice.' This refers to the teaching and practice of the
Orthodox Church worldwide
that only Orthodox Christians may partake of the
Eucharist (or any
sacrament for that matter) at our worship
services. It is a simple concept, but
one that seems to cause a lot of strife. There are
two basic reasons for this:
(1) Visitors from Protestant denominations are
often used to open chalices
where anyone is allowed to come to Communion. This
author has observed
a Protestant chapel service where the pastor
stated that Jesus gave His Body
and Blood not to a denomination, but to His
disciples. Thus, anyone who felt
called to the chalice was welcomed. You could be a
Mormon, Catholic,
Protestant, etc. and still come to communion at
this Protestant chapel;
(2) The Roman Catholic Church (Latins, Melkites
and Maronites) teaches that, in
a situation where no Roman Catholic Church is
present (unheard of in this country) and/or in
cases of extreme and dire emergency where no Roman
Catholic priest is available (again, not likely in
this country), one can seek out the Orthodox
sacraments if they feel it is absolutely
necessary.
This has led to the misconception amongst the
Roman Catholics that one can commune from the
Orthodox chalice anytime they visit an Orthodox
Christian Church. Let's quickly remind ourselves
why these examples are incorrect and then
elaborate a unique approach to explaining our
closed chalice to the non-Orthodox."
"Eucharistic communion is an act of theological
and ecclesiological union. Many bishops and
priests have written on this subject, and the
various authors all say the same thing:
Eucharistic communion is not the path to, but the
fruit of, the Orthodox Church's ecumenical work.
For two church bodies to commune together means
that we can look at each other and say, in all
aspects, 'We are one.' However, in today's world,
churches are
divided along various theological and
ecclesiological issues and we Orthodox do not
simply 'put aside our differences' for the sake of
table fellowship with other Christians."
"Time and time again, people respond to the notion
of the closed chalice by saying, 'What does it
matter, as long as you believe in Jesus?' It is a
valid question. Orthodox Christians believe that
Jesus is the incarnate Word of God who was
crucified and resurrected on the third day. We
believe that Jesus is fully human and fully divine
without mixture, confusion, separation, or
division (Fourth Ecumenical Council). We believe
that the empty tomb signifies for us that Jesus
was resurrected from the dead.
No argument there, right? Now, imagine a visitor
comes to one of our parishes. He comes from a
church that is not Orthodox. Let's imagine that he
believes Jesus was an incarnate created being --
an angel, let's say – and that he was not
resurrected, but reincarnated! He does not believe
in the divinity of Christ and he does not believe
in the resurrection. Not very Orthodox, is it?
Yet, this individual approaches the chalice and
wants to receive communion; after all, 'What does
it matter, as long as you believe in Jesus?'"
"Just prior to the reception of communion, the
Church recites the Nicene-Constantinopolitan
Creed. We verbally confess our Orthodox believe in
'... one Lord Jesus Christ ... true God of true God
begotten not made, of one essence with the
Father... and [who] rose from the dead on the
third day ...'. Our Orthodox beliefs do not match
the beliefs of the visitor. By approaching and
partaking of the Eucharist, he is making a
statement that he has a common faith with us. But
in reality he does not. If he partakes from the
chalice, then all of us are allowing that
individual to make a liar of himself before God. St. Paul tells us in I
Corinthians 11:27-29 that those who partake of the
Eucharist without discerning the Body and Blood of
Christ eat and drink condemnation unto themselves.
Who among us would wish that upon a visitor to one
of our churches, and what judgment is upon us if
we allow that to happen?"
"The reality of the closed chalice is not that
Orthodox Christians are somehow bigoted and
insensitive. Quite the opposite, we Orthodox are
called to love and respect other Christians and
their beliefs. In fact, we love and respect other
Christians so much, whether Roman Catholic or
Protestant, that we will not allow them to make
liars of themselves before God by receiving
sacraments in a Church with beliefs that are
different than their own.
It is a matter of maintaining the personal
integrity of those who visit our churches. The
example used for this article is a bit extreme;
however, the same logic applies to any Christians
who have any beliefs that are not in agreement
with ours -- whether those beliefs are about
Scripture and Tradition, Ecclesiology, the
Sacraments, the authority of the bishop of Rome,
the Immaculate Conception of Mary (the belief that
Mary was Conceived by her parents, Joachim and
Anna, without the original sin that all mankind is
born under), iconography, etc. The reason that
there are tens of thousands of Christian
denominations in this country is that there are
tens of thousands of ways to believe differently
from us Orthodox Christians; thus, we are not in
communion with those churches."
"So, allowing Protestants or Roman Catholics
(Latin, Melkite, or Maronite) to commune from the
Orthodox chalice makes them state that they reject
their church's teachings. We are inviting them to
lie. That is disrespectful, insensitive, and
un-Orthodox. Asking a non-Orthodox visitor to
refrain from partaking of the chalice maintains
the personal integrity of the visitor and
demonstrates the Orthodox Church's respect, but
not acceptance, of the differences that divide us.
That is respectful, sensitive, and Orthodox. Let
us pray that one day the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
of Truth, will bring all worshipping Christians to
the True Faith so that all Christians will be one
and that all may partake of the Body and Blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins
and life everlasting."
With prayers and good will,
Gregory Orloff
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