09 March 2008

For Those Who Want to See Pictures...

While we don’t have any pictures of the inside of the new location for Holy Incarnation Orthodox Church, you can get a panoramic view of the outside by selecting this link. Be sure to select “Street View.”

You can also see a picture of the interior (before remodeling and set-up) by selecting this link.

7 comments:

Matthew M said...

MANY YEARS, Father John!
A nice place to start and promises of growth.
The mission (OCA) I used to be a part of never could find a place and eventually disbanded. I really miss it though.
Are donations accepted? Please provide info if so.

Catholicdude15 said...

Dear Fr. Fenton,

Glory to Jesus Christ! I want you to know that oh, maybe five years ago I stumbled across the website of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church while I was trying to find Protestant alternatives to low church evangelicalism. I was most encouraged by what I saw at Zion Church. The Catholic-liteness of Zion is exactly what prompted me to seek further. Now that I am eighteen, I have been received into full communion with the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. And I thank you for the small, yet significant, part that you played in my conversion to the Church of Rome.

I am most pleased that you have received Apostolic Holy Orders through the Antiochian Orthodox Church. I would urge you, kind Father, to continue in your journey. I pray that someday you will discover, as I have, the fullness and unity of the Christian Faith which exists only when the members of Christ are in communion with the Successor to Peter, the Bishop of Rome. God Bless You and the Holy Virgin Theotokos ever be your protection!

PS: You should meet Fr. Thomas Loya. He's the pastor Annunciation of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen, IL. He has an awesome radio program called "Light of the East" and he's a world-renowned expert and speaker on the Theology of the Body as taught by Our Late Holy Father Pope John Paul II of most happy and blessed memory. He can be contacted through his parish's website at www.byzantinecatholic.com. All of his radio programs are archived on that site as well! Once again, God Bless You! You are in my prayers!

Rushad

david+ said...

Fr. John,
What a great article! Such good press. Nice photos, too.
david+ (the fighting e'copalian)

Fr John W Fenton said...

Matthew,

Thanks for the kind words. Donations are accepted. Please contact me via personal email as listed at www.holyincarnation.org.

Rushad,

Thank you for the kind words. Since I am of the Antiochian Patriarchate where St Peter was the first bishop, I am in communion with the successor to Peter. :) (Check out 22 Feb on the pre-1969 Roman calendars.)

Seriously, I am one of those who refuse to believe that the differences between Rome and the Orthodox bishops, while serious, are not insurmountable; and, therefore, I pray for reunion rather than submission.

I will look for the words of Fr Thomas, and thank you again for your kindnesses.

Fr David,

Good to hear from you again. My prayers are for you, that you remain faithful.

Catholicdude15 said...

Dear Fr. Fenton,

Thank you for your kind words. I am very familiar with St. Peter and Antioch. In fact, I'm sure you probably already know this, but the Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch (currently His Beatitude Mar Nasrallah Boutros Cardinal Sfeir) takes as one of his titles the name "Peter" in recognition of the fact that the Proto-Pontiff established the ancient See of that city.

I stand with you in agreeing that the differences between Rome and the East are not in any way, shape, or form insurmountable. There is FAR FAR more that unites us than separates us. We share 99% of the same faith, including the same fully valid apostolic succession. Ours is not a problem of doctrine or practice, rather it's a problem of authority and jurisdiction. I do hope and pray, however, that someday soon the Orthodox will come to understand the essential duty of the Petrine office to preserve and promote the unity of the catholic and apostolic faith. That's the only real barrier, as you well know.

I think the perceived submission issue does not really exist. The Pope does not exist to be a divinely instituted dictator, ruling the church with an iron fist. His most important role is as Servant of the Servants of God. He serves to promote the unity of the Catholic Faith.

I do hope that someday the Orthodox churches will reunite in all fullness with the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, under the church's universal shepherd, the Roman Pontiff.

Dn. Lucas said...

Catholicdude,

Of course, we Orthodox Christians would warmly welcome the Bishop of Rome back into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Christian Church by re-establishing communion with her Bishops in a spirit of fraternity as primus inter pares, shepherded by our Universal Shepherd, even Christ our High Priest, our King and our God.

with warmest fraternal love and regards-

the sinner,
Rdr. Lucas

Catholicdude15 said...

Dear Lucas,

I must most warmly agree to your proposal that Christ Jesus is the Universal and Supreme Shepherd of the Catholic Church. I also agree that the Holy Father is the primus inter pares. However, in addition to being the primus inter pares, he is the pontifex maximus (supreme pontiff), meaning that, as history attests, the Bishop of Rome is gifted with full, supreme, and immediate jurisdiction over the entire universal church. We are the one body of Christ. We may have different ways of expressing our oneness in the Catholic Church, whether it be Roman Rite or Byzantine Rite or Maronite Rite, etc... At the end of the day we all cling to the same catholic and apostolic faith and humbly submit ourselves to the Supreme Pontiff as he is the vicar of the Lord Jesus Christ on Earth and holds the office that serves as the instrument of unity for the whole Catholic Church.

There is but one body of Christ, and one head of the body, and one priest, Jesus Christ. Yet, he chooses frail, sinful men to govern his church on earth, and first among these men is his vicar the Pope.

We Catholics stand with Clement of Alexandria who proclaimed some one thousand eight hundred years ago: ""[T]he blessed Peter, the chosen, the preeminent, the first among the disciples, for whom alone with himself the Savior paid the tribute." (Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 21:3 [A.D. 200]).