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If there are a few examples that would not make it common. The Roman Catholic Church has a delayed confirmation process. They even call the process confirmation class and confirmation. If they had been confirmed this would not be required and they would be able to receive communion

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Acknowledging were are separate is not the same thing as wanting to be separate. We desire and pray for unity. We have not achieved unity yet.

@@StNicholasTarpon 💜 it saddens me to see the current state of the Church and the sheer number of denominations fixated on subtle differences in interpretation. How is it acceptable for a member of the clergy to deny another member of the clergy access to communion with God? Each of us has both human and divine nature. The practice of minimising our human nature allows for our divine nature to be more prevalent and as such God will to be done through us. Is there something that I'm missing or? When I go to Church, I cannot understand why the CoE and Catholics have separate congregations, I'm there to commune with God, not to bicker about subtleties.

It saddens the Church as well. Sharing communion is both communing with God and each other. It is a result of our union in Christ. The theological differences about Who Christ is, is what separates our communion. Since we do not agree about Who Christ is, then we do not share communion because it would be a false union. We cannot be united with different 'Christs' in that sense. That being said, the difference are anything but subtle.

@@StNicholasTarpon Christ is who Christ is despite and regardless of what man says about him. Even if one denies Christ all together it does not stop Christ being Christ.

@@StNicholasTarpon The reason you cannot be united with 'different Christs' is because there are not 'different Christs'. There is only one Christ.

No Orthodox is not making any net converts at all. I ready the numbers and it’s -22,000 a year counting the cradle orthodox who peace out

I agree. Are you orthodox as well? I'm thinking of converting. I believe in evangelism

The Orthodox Church is the 2nd Largest Church in the world. Only the Roman Catholic Church has more members.

You’re talking to a tomb full of dead man’s bones. ALL Orthodox churches are ethnic

that fear came from the devil , he knows you can be on the right path and he will obstruct you in every way on your journey to the Orthodox Church - the only arc of salvation. So do not be afraid 'cause you won't be alone !!!!

narrow is the way

@@ryanl5817 so that scripture you cited, the way you exegete the text I'd "narrow" means through the orthodox church?

So no salvation outside... the calendar?

@@floridaman318 lol, the absolute state of Christianity. Should I laugh or should I cry? There's a lot of “we men make a thing, we’ve got a system, we, we, we, this is something we built and it’s been standing for a long time, we have history and we are proud of it, we, us, we, people, we” thing going on. Much distressed I am.

She must wear the pants in the relationship if you are converting to her religion instead of her converting to yours.

​@@YourBoyJohnny94She cannot marry outside the Church ☦️, he wants her, therefore he will convert, and it will be his Salvation. Слава Тебе Божи ☦️ Амин

Take....eat...this is my body. Christ said it first.

@@StNicholasTarpon , I am glad you still celebrate Passover (Because your Lord God did exactly this when He was alive in human form). You do not get to pick and choose in your religion. Now, for everyone else: the symbolism of eating and drinking (which is the only way to sustain life) is to have kinship with the hero. Whenever you eat and drink remember what life is: It is not by bread alone. It is not leaping off to become reliant on the Welfare System. And it is not having all you see before you (because there is far greater that we do not yet see) if only you serve a Good Master as His Servant. Life is not to be seduced by Status, Safe Spaces or joining a Collective. You are the master of your own life. To live by every word of your soul. To live by the Bill of Rights. A slave to no one. And to love your neighbor likewise; even though they hunger for bling, government handouts and strong-arm dictators.

@@StNicholasTarpon thank for sharing your belief. 1. Was this for blessings on Earth and Heaven? 2. Was it a Leap of Faith so Jesus will catch you? 3. Was it so you can keep all you read in the Bible - if you only serve Him? Matthew 4: 1-11 At what point will logic kick in? These counterfeiters - who enter the churches - saying "we are just like you!" The vain and self-righteous. The perpetual victims, comforting each other with virtue. Or lawyers in judgement who strain a gnat against each other for each master that is the same, but slightly different. Narcissists Sociopaths Psychopaths And with their escape into a new identity, they kick out the souls in that church.

Because it simply doesn’t. Our Lord Jesus Christ performed first Holly Communion with his Apostles. Which were the first bishops who ordained the first priests. Since the Pentecost, the decent of The Holy Spirit upon Virgin Mary and the Apostles, the Church was formed and at its most foundational essence was Holly Communion. Not only that God loves us so much that he endured the utmost humiliation and suffering so that we could be saved, He loves us so much that he allows us to be in Him and Him in us. By words of St Basil the Great, allowing us to become Gods by grace, not essence of course. The interpretation you’re referring to is of protestant origin, which was not even a point of view until 15 century or so. By believing that you’re cutting yourself short of the most ultimate form of human existence - Union with God and potential sainthood. At least you’re asking a question without firmly holding that position and are looking to understand. God Bless you and your pursuit of fullness of our Christian faith.

@@MentholCiC The kingdom of heaven belongs to the children. That's it. People like Jesus came to John the Baptist, because they had lost this state of mind. Nothing religious at all. Repent from trying to fix our problems intellectually, and be still in the wilderness. And whatever is hiding - that drives our inner fight-flight nerves - we will find. 40 days and nights meditating. And deeper memories will eventually bubble into view. And by calmly observing these traumatic memories once again, without the pride of judgement, and with forgiveness for all concerned, will we be set free from them. Easier if done in humbleness when we go back to those we hurt or had hurt us. Guilt and resentment will be lifted in a moment of realization everything changes. Bringing the past into the present is cathartic for those locked in fear. Our brains reset. Born again. Not killing our oldself, but embracing our oldself once again to continue as a child. Start by seeking the truth. And you will find. Warts and all. Weep and you shall laugh. The narrow way. And you will be hated by the religious who put their trust in the Next Life, to avoid a cursing to receive a blessing, Permitted and Unpermitted. The God botherers. For them, Jesus, a person they never met, is their cure. And argue about serving by faith and/or good works while covered with the Blood of Christ on Judgement Day. Pagans.

James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." The saints are holy *righteous* people and there IS POWER in prayer. When Jesus died, he defeated death and granted everyone who believed in him eternal life. That means, when we die it is not "nothingness," we are still alive in Christ. That itself is heaven. If we are in the same room as each other, we can see and hear the same things. Just like the saints and all righteous people, who reside with God after they die, can see us and hear our petitions as well. If we are to ask those around us to pray for us when we are ill or in need, why be hesitant to pray to someone who we know is residing with God himself? Prayer means "to ask." We know this because it was used in old English often. (Eg. "I pray thee") Jesus IS the only mediator, but not just a fellow parishioner we might ask to pray for us, He is the one we pray to. God Bless, I hope this helps your understanding of our faith.

Also, about the Icons. When we kiss them and pray in front of them, it is called veneration. Veneration means to pay respect, in a sense. We know better than to worship anyone or thing other than God. These Icons are no exception. We have them as a remembrance of the person depicted, just like having a painting of your grandma reminds you of her and the life she lived. Here, we also have saints. When we remember said person, we remember how they lived their lives devoted to Christ in whatever way they did. Devoting your life to Christ is worthy of respect. So when we see them it helps us remember and try to be more like them. You could say "we should be like Christ, not other humans!" Which is true, and why these saints are worthy to be respected. Most of them came from very sinful lives like a lot of us, so the way they turned around and gave themselves to Christ is inspiring, respectable even. We want to do what they did, and develop a sort of "friendship" with them over the fact we've gone through the same things. My patron saint is St John of Damascus, who defended icons during the iconoclasm. I find myself defending icons and my faith itself often, im doing it now. Icons are what brought me closer to God. Seeing Jesus depicted helps me to understand who im talking to. Its hard, and im sure you understand, praying and feeling like no one is listening. Icons help because we can see Who is listening. Now, when we kiss the icons, think about how someone might kiss a painting or picture of a dead relative, we miss them and probably because their life impacted us somehow. Thats what its like with the saints. "But its not in the Bible!!" No its not. Jesus didnt teach this. He didnt teach a lot of things we do. But it can bring us closer to Him, which is what we want. There are many traditions that dont come from the Bible such as; Christmas trees, decorating them, saying "Merry Christmas!" Or "Happy Easter!" None of this is in the Bible, but they're traditions that bring us closer to Him if done with the right heart.