The opportunity to serve at the Patriarchate is a deep honor for me. The only thing even more awesome would be if I actually served with the Patriarch. Don't really think that is going to happen because the Patriarch only celebrates at specific times and there is a protocol of who actually serves. But you never say never, or something like that. The feelings that I expressed earlier when I was relating serving Orthros and Vespers never really abate. There is a connection to a historical past which continues into the present and the future.
The experience at the Patriarchate from a priestly perspective is just as important as the pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1995. These are unforgettable periods in my ever-continuing formation. Some opportunities are thrust upon you, others are there for the grabbing. I am definitely leaving Constantinople a changed person.
People may say "Why doesn't the Patriarchate leave Constantinople and go someplace where he has more freedom to be the Ecumenical Patriarchate?" I think this is a shortsighted statement. Just take a look at the Holy Land. The land that gave Jesus Christ His Birth, witness to His Ministry, Death and Resurrection is being abandoned by Christians left and right. The economic opportunities are not there any longer since most Christians are Palestinian and they suffer just as much discrimination from Muslim Palestinians from Israel and probably feel discrimination from their Muslim compatriots. Two to three generations have been waiting for the restoration of their homeland and haven't seen it yet.
This is the situation that the Patriarchate finds itself. Who will take care of our religious inheritance if not for the Patriarchate? Who will speak for our history in the face of those who would alter it? And alter they (the Turks) do.
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