Friday, October 13, 2006
ROD DREHER'S NEW HOME IN ORTHODOXY
He tells the story of his journey from Roman Catholicism to Orthodoxy, the reasons he made it and the frustration that led to it, and his sense of peace now that he is there. It's a long post that begins this way:
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Orthodoxy and me
I apologize for this very long post, but it's time to clear something up: yes, I am now a communicant of the Orthodox Church, and have been (along with my family) for a couple of months.
I did not intend to make this public until the end of this month, to honor a personal and professional obligation that, the violation of which stood to hurt some innocent people. This is why I've taken care since the day I entered Orthodoxy not to claim I am Catholic in writings here, and not to rise to the bait of certain people in the comboxes who have demanded that I declare myself. Though I've wanted to get this out there, and not to deceive readers, I had an obligation to keep this to myself until month's end, for an important reason I can't really discuss. But now I am forced to reveal all early. Why? Because a certain malicious reader, a perfect stranger and petty little Catholic Prufrock named Jonathan Carpenter, who is unhealthily preoccupied with me nearly to the point of cyberstalking, troubled himself to write a letter to a priest at my parish asking about my ecclesial affiliation -- and when he received his answer, undertook to publicize it.
So, here we are. I apologize to readers who feel deceived or betrayed.
But you have to read the whole thing, and it's worth the time it takes to read it.
I can so completely sympathize with what Rod writes. The devastation to his spiritual life that the scandal has caused him, and his description of discovering yet another reason for disillusionment with Roman Catholicism via his orthodox parish in Texas, is the point at which I and my husband find ourselves at present thanks to the Opus Angelorum Day of Recollection at the church we had been attending.
I can understand his sense of coming home in finding community at the Orthodox church where he is now a member, because I sensed that same community at the schismatic Sacred Heart Church I attended recently, and it makes you want to come back for more.
If I had not been Roman Catholic for more than fifty years prior to this current personal faith crisis, I would probably be heading East as well. Who knows, I still might. Having found the only orthodox Roman Catholic church in my area, as he had found one in Texas, and then discovering there as well a reason to be cautious and wary, is devastating. Being a refugee is painful. Attending Mass fully expecting to come away angry or jeering and mocking is not what Mass is supposed to be about. Hesitating to receive the Eucharist because the service has brought me to a heart not properly disposed to receiving Christ defeats the very purpose of attending Mass.
I envy Rod having made the transition and finding himself and his family at peace with the decision, while I'm still wandering around out here in the Roman Catholic wasteland with no spiritual home and not much hope of finding one.
