Byz. texas blog excerpts with my commentary

Patriarch Kyril gave a homily about Wolves in Sheep's Clothing. In it he made the following comments: “When we meet a man who claims to be fighting for the purity of Orthodoxy, but in his eyes is lit the fire of anger, someone ready to shake the foundations of Church life to defend orthodoxy, if we do not find love and find anger, this is the first sign of that we have a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” the Patriarch said in his Sunday sermon at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. “In the eyes of these people you will not find love; they shine with the fire of pride. The most important criterion for evaluating any Church leader — from a Patriarch to a simple layman — is ‘love’ because ‘where there is love, there is Christ.’”

"Instead of spending all of our time trying to point out our differences and standing hand in hand with Protestants (which as a whole movement has produced more heresies in the 20th century than any other century before it) why not stand hand in hand with the Church that still believes in the efficacy of prayers for the dead, prayers to the saints, veneration of iconography, saints, and miracles. Who still, despite some failures in synthesizing Greek philosophy have still maintained the Apostolic Faith and who most of all, as a whole, practice charity, chastity, and love for neighbor.Perhaps the best way forward is not to look at a bitter past, but instead to re-aquire the Hermeneutic of Love that Pope John Paul II advocated. It is only through this lens that we can come to see our differences not as in conflict, but complementary, as the Fathers of the Church for the 1st 1000 years of Christian history saw each other." (Josephus Flavius)

MY RESPONSE TO BYZ. TEXAS' POST: I was at the Phanar (Istanbul, Turkey, Cathedral of St. George) during the return of the Relics and then again during the Papal visit. The doxology at night when the Ecumenical Patriach and the Pope entered the church was fantastic. After Liturgy the following day the church went out into the courtyard and we all chanted to their longevity and brotherhood. It is no coincidence of history that Peter and Andrew were brothers. when the orthodox faith is upheld we need to rejoice that our sister church has returned to its rightful place.