Herald May 05/11.qxd - Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

THE HERALDMay 2011A column for high school and university studentsOver the past several years, in conversationswith the editors of theVisnyk, the idea of a column forhigh school and university studentshas occasionally been proposed.You - the "young adult demographic"—are important to the Church. Not onlythat, but whether you realize it or notthe Christian Faith is important to you—probably more important than yourealize. I’ve often asked myself: "If I wasa teenager or university student, and theVisnyk arrived at my house, would therebe anything in it to interest me?"Hopefully this column will.I’ve been directly involved withyouth ministry and education duringmost of my adult life. One of the highpoints of my summer is going to AllSaints’ Ukrainian Orthodox camp inEm lenton, Pennsylvania to spend timewith the teenagers there. Every day, afterbreakfast and again after dinner, wehave an hour to talk about spiritualmat ters. The campers put questions in abox, and we pull them out and answerthem as well as we can. I’d like to workthis column the same way, as a conversation,not a lecture.The contemporary world can be acomplicated and intimidating place.Besides the technological complexity ofour society there is a social and moralcomplexity which is even more overwhelming.It’s no exaggeration to saythat the current state of affairs regardingmany moral, ethical, religious andspi ritual issues would have been un -thinkable even 50 years ago.Growing up in such a world it’s easyto lose one’s way, and it’s always easyjust to "go with the flow". But just like itwas for Christians in the Roman Em -pire, under the Moslems, or in the So -viet Union, it’s necessary for true Chris -tians today to be knowledgeable abouttheir faith and dedicated to the Church.I recently heard a talk given by Me -tropolitan Kallistos (Ware). Duringques tion period a woman asked himwhat we could do to keep our youth inthe Church. He replied by saying thatwhenever he speaks with the youth ofhis parish in Oxford he reminds themthat in our contemporary world if theywant to remain Orthodox Christiansthey need to be prepared to be like asalmon, swimming constantly againstthe current. It’s not impossible for people,even young people, even universitystudents, to remain committed believingOrthodox Christians, but it is definitelya countercultural act, and thosewho wish to remain with the Churchwill have to be prepared to deal in asound intellectual, spiritual and lovingmanner with the questions, derision,and outright aggression which they willcertainly face.Due to the emphasis "the world"puts on career success and "personalfulfillment" most of our teens andyoung adults, even those who are closeto the Church, find themselves in a constanttug of war among many activities—sports, music lessons, dance classes,school work, part-time jobs, socialactivities, etc. Notice we haven’t evenmentioned worship services, parishyouth group activities, or prayer! Basedon my observation, Christ and theChurch usually seem to find themselvesat the bottom of the priority list. This isboth sad and unfortunate, because it’sprecisely at the beginning of the teenyears and continuing through the earlytwenties that as human beings we areable to start philosophically engagingthe deeper realities of life, the world,and the Christian faith.While we’re blessed to live in an ageof rapid technological advancement,we’re at the same time witnessing afrightening drop in the level of spiritualknowledge. This is dangerous for society,as economic or scientific progresswhich is not tempered by wisdom andlove for the people and things this pro -gress affects is often catastrophic. It isdangerous for all of us individually aswell, since if we aren’t spiritually and in -tellectually engaged with our faith we’resitting ducks when the next cultist, secularhumanist, or "evangelist" wants tohave fun with us.Speaking of "evangelists", we mustadmit that part of the reason "Chris t -ians" are often made fun of is because ofthe way certain "Christians" act andspeak. Watching some of the questionablecharacters that claim to preach theGospel on television or listening towhat most of them preach would makeany normally intelligent person with aneven minimal understanding of theGospel of Christ be suspicious. These"evangelists" often prey on the generalpublic’s ignorance of authentic Chris -tian teaching and practice, as well astheir base human instincts (greed, jealousy,fear, the need for affirmation, etc.)to line their own pockets. Which is allthe more reason to know our faith well,so that we don’t get sucked in by thesecharlatans or lumped together withthem as "crackpot Christians".In addition to the above, it takes peoplelonger to grow up nowadays. Fifty ora hundred years ago people often gotmarried in their late teens or earlytwenties. The spiritual, psychologicaland practical lessons that were learnedby our grandparents simply by virtue ofgoing to Church every Sunday, having aspouse and children to look after, andtaking an active part in the ongoing lifeof the community are not being learn -ed, or learned late in life, by a large segmentof our population today, to thedetriment of society, the Church, andus, individual people.Hopefully this column will help youcontextualize a lot of the informationyou may have been fed through the7mass media, school, or even in Church.Based on my pastoral experience I’vegot a list of things I’d like to write about,issues like honour and honesty; relationshipissues (friendship, dating,court ing, marriage); sexual morality(sex ual activity, homosexuality, pornography,the Church’s vision of humansexual activity); addiction issues (alcohol,internet, drugs, gambling); familyissues (relationship with parents, siblings,etc.); relationship to Church (do Ifeel uncomfortable or unwelcome inChurch? Why should I even belong to aChurch?); theological issues (Who isJesus Christ? Bodily resurrection andthe resurrection of Christ. What aboutnon-Christians or non-Orthodox?); per -sonal spirituality (prayer, fasting, worship,service), etc.But as I said, I don’t want this columnto be a one-way street. I welcome all ofyou who might have a question or anissue you’d like addressed to e-mail it tome at bhladio@sympatico.ca, or to theeditor of the Visnyk at visnyk@uocc.ca.All correspondence will be kept in thestrictest confidence. I will prioritize the -se questions and address them in up -coming columns.I’m excited about this column, andlook forward to exploring the world ofOrthodox Christianity with you. In themeantime, be good, say your prayers, goto church, and we’ll talk again nextmonth.Notes from Camp: from a sister camp program in the USAEvery summer the Ukrainian Or -thodox Church of the USA sponsorsa camping program for te -en agers called "Teenage Con fe -ren ce" at All Saints camp in Emlenton,Pennsylvania. I’ve been blessed to takepart in the program for many years,teaching religion and singing. It’s anexceptional program, bringing greatspiritual benefit to everyone involved.The program is centred on God andHis Church. Days begin and end withcommon prayer in the beautiful Car -pathian-style wooden church. Mealslikewise begin and end with prayer.Liturgy is served on Sundays and feastdays, with other services such as Ves -pers, Akathists, and Molebens of feredat appropriate times. These services arevery uplifting, as the teenagers sing theservices themselves, and sing themwell.Every day following breakfast andsupper the campers gather for a questionand answer session with thepriests. All the difficult issues whichim pact our youth—issues of morality,sexuality, theology, Christian living,etc.—are addressed. I always returnhome thinking that if our adult parishionersor council members were aseager to openly wrestle with the teachingsof our church as these teenagersNew Column: Against the Currentare our parishes would be veritablehot houses of Christian faith and practice!The encampment also featuressports, culture, music, and social activities.Every year the campers are dividedinto teams of 8-10 and participatein the "Ukie Olympics", which featuresevents like running, throwing, basketball,volleyball, etc. Of special note isthe diving competition, judged personallyby Metropolitan Constantine.The team accumulating the mostpoints over the two week encampmentwins the coveted "Kozak Cup". Besidesorganized sports campers have timefor free sports like swimming, soccer,basketball, tennis—you name it, thecamp has facilities for it.Singing is very popular. It’s amazingto have 50 or 60 teenagers singing bothpopular and folk songs in either Uk -rainian or English joyfully and at thetop of their lungs. The camp is locatedon the banks of the Allegheny river,and it’s traditional to go down and singby the riverside on the grass at leastonce during the encampment.This past year the campers—mostlyUkrainian Orthodox but with a significantminority who are not Ukrainian,not Orthodox, or neither—learnedabout various aspects of Ukrainianculture, including Christmas, Newyear,Theophany, and wedding customs.In the past whole encampmentshave been dedicated to one or anotherof these themes, including full blowncelebrations of Christmas Eve (withthe Holy Supper and caroling for theneighbours who have cottages downthe road from the camp), and a completeUkrainian wedding, including abanquet and dance!Chapel prayers.ПротоієрейБогдан ГладьоУПЦ Св. ІванаХрестителяОшава, Он.V. Rev. ArchpriestBohdan HladioUOC ofSt. John the BaptistOshawa, ONCamp is a unique opportunity tobond with other Ukrainian Orthodoxteenagers from parishes throughoutthe USA and Canada. Every eveningthe re is a dance, a bon-fire, or someother type of social event where theyouth have an opportunity to interact.The friendships made at camp last forlife.(continued on p.8)ВІСНИК • THE HERALD Tel.: 1-877-586-3093 Fax: (204) 582-5241 E-mail: visnyk@uocc.ca web:www.uocc.ca