Beholder’s Neighborhood

For those who don't know, I'm currently in Gunnison, Colorado, and will be until next Wednesday. I, along with 10 other physics students, are here using the observatory to study exoplanets (planets around stars besides the sun). On the side we are using the CCD's to take pictures of other astronomical objects, and also possibly studying a bit of cataclysmic variation. 

CHRIST IS RISEN! Christos Voskrese! Christos Anesti! Al-Masih-Qam! Cristo Ha Resucitado!

Couldn't resist this one. This is a kid who has just had a procedure done at the dentist, and thus is simply pumped with medication.

Incidentally, this is the exact same way Jeremy acts in the morning and after drinking coffee (. . . . combined)

To view a photo collection from the weekend’s events, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8135007@N03/collections/72157612808480334/

Mexican Exarchate elevated to Diocese

Submitted by Fr. Antonio Perdomo,

Rector of St. George Orthodox Church, Pharr, Texas.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” ~ Matthew 28:18-20

[Pharr] On Sunday, January 18, 2009, it was apparent that the Holy Spirit gathered Christ’s Church together in Mexico City for a significant event. Metropolitan Jonah, most Hierarchs from the Holy Synod of Bishops, clergy, monastics and a multitude of the faithful from throughout Mexico, the United States and Canada gathered at La Catedral de la Asención de Nuestro Señor. Hundreds witnessed the blessed occasion of the Auxiliary Bishop of Mexico’s elevation to Ruling Bishop and the Exarchate of Mexico into a full Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America. The celebration of this momentous event found Bishop Alejo [Pacheco-Vera], surrounded by several of the founding Clergy of the Orthodox Church in Mexico, including Priest Ramon Merlos and  Priest José Raul Valencia, as well as long-time Exarchate of Mexico Hierarch, Archbishop Dmitri. All present rejoiced at participating in this long awaited and critical next step towards bringing the fullness of the Church into the culture of Latin America. Native Mexican Priest, Ramon Merlos, Rector of Our Lady of Kazan Russian Orthodox Church in San Diego, California said, “This was a very historical event for Mexico. For the first time ever, we had six guest Bishops plus the Metropolitan, come here to support and pray with us as the holy Orthodox Church in Mexico. The people present had a deeply spiritual experience.” 

In Spanish, Metropolitan Jonah shared how awesome it is to at last elevate the Church in Mexico from Exarchate to Diocese of the OCA, and to fully equip the Church there to accomplish the task Christ has set before it. At the end of the installment services, each visiting Bishop in turn offered their wishes and congratulations for Bishop Alejo and the new Diocese of Mexico. Archbishop Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada stated that the Church in North America is like a sandwich, with Canada and Mexico being the bread and the USA being the nourishing filling. The Metropolitan added that now there exists the Orthodox Church in Mexico, in America and in Canada, and that between all of these is an indivisible unity of mutual love and purpose.  

Among the many apparent things during this weekend was the grace of the Holy Spirit and how the gospel of Christ is being shared with the indigenous people of that land. With the foundation now laid, the fields are ready for harvest. The Diocese of Mexico currently contains nine churches and missions, including the Cathedral of the Ascension in Mexico City, and several thousand faithful. What is needed indeed is for all of us to pray the Lord of the harvest to prepare and send workers to this field.

Mexican seminarian from St. Tikhon’s Seminary in Pennsylvania, Sub Deacon Abraham Labrada said, “It is good to experience, participate in and help build the Orthodox Church in Mexico as it now enters into this new chapter of its story.”  Guests from the St. Tikhon’s Seminary Mission Choir sang during Saturday evening’s Vespers service. The Mission Choir joined the Cathedral Choir and guests from St. George Orthodox Church Choir in Pharr, Texas during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and Enthronement.  The beauty of Christ and His Church were tangibly reflected in the liturgical services of the weekend. Everyone present acclaimed that the Orthodox Church is alive and active in Mexico. “It was a wonderful and awe-inspiring weekend. We were very blessed to be here,” said guest choir director, Analucia Perdomo of St. George’s Orthodox Church in Pharr, Texas. The University of Texas Pan American student continued, “Through our many visits over the past several years, we’ve been blessed to see the Mexican Exarchate grow, become a Diocese and now come into its own. It is great to, in some small way, have been part of it all.”

Besides Metropolitan Jonah and Bishop Alejo of Mexico, other hierarchs in attendance at this notable event included Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South, Archbishop Nathanial of the Romanian Diocese, Archbishop Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada, Bishop Benjamin of the West and Bishop Tikhon of Eastern Pennsylvania. Clergy attending included Priest Ernesto Rios, Priest Ramon Merlos, Priest Dennis Pihach, Priest José Raul Valencia-Salinas, Igumen Nazario Ipac-Uribe, Priest Jorge Barrera-Zermeno, Priest Antonio Perdomo, Priest José Luis Serna-Estrada, Hieromonk Victorin Torres-Martinez and Hieromonk Serafin Mendoza Segundo. A number of deacons, sub-deacons and monastics were also present for the weekend. 

The intent of the first Orthodox missionaries who came to Alaska was to share the good news of the gospel and evangelize the natives of North America. Evangelization has been a continual theme handed down to all Orthodox Christians from apostolic times to this day. This continued commission was most recently witnessed by many as we gathered in Mexico City for the installation of Bishop Alejo as the Bishop of Mexico City and Mexico. A giant step forward occurred as the Orthodox Church in Mexico was brought into a fullness which now allows it to fulfill the commission of our Lord, and therefore manifest the grace of God and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Edinburg, Texas university student, Cristina Perdomo added, “The weekend in Mexico was deeply moving. It was filled with the grace of the holy spirit as well as the undying communion of the entire church, as Mexico was elevated to become its own Diocese.”

It is feasible that many might be surprised by the previous statement. Often, when the subject of Orthodoxy in Mexico comes up, the question most often asked is if the Orthodox Church even exists in Mexico. It does and has for nearly 45 years. In 1965, Bishop José [Cortes - Olmos], and his clergy contacted the rector of St. Seraphim's Church in Dallas, Texas, Father Dmitri [Royster], now the Archbishop of Dallas and the South. Archbishop Dmitri, instrumental in converting many Mexicans to Orthodoxy, translated many Orthodox liturgical services into Spanish. Archbishop Dmitri presented the case of the Orthodox Church in Mexico to the hierarchy of the OCA. After a number of exchanges and informal visits, the Holy Synod officially sent Archbishop Dmitri to visit Mexico and to report on his findings. That report, studied by the OCA's Department of Canonical Affairs, recommended the acceptance of the Mexican communities into the Orthodox Church in America.

In 1971, Bishop José petitioned for the acceptance of the Church into the Orthodox Church in America. He and other priests of his community were received in their Roman Catholic rank of priest. Prior to his consecration as Bishop of Mexico City, Father José studied at St. Vladimir's Seminary. He was consecrated at the Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in New York City on April 22, 1972.

On January 28, 1983, Bishop José fell asleep in the Lord after a relatively short bout with cancer. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Ireney, presided at the funeral service in Mexico City on February 1, 1983.  It was not until 2005 that a successor to Bishop José was found. On May 28 of that year, at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, Archimandrite Antonio Alejo [Pacheco-Vera] was consecrated as Bishop Alejo, the Auxiliary Bishop of Mexico City within the Exarchate of Mexico. As of this past weekend, both Bishop Alejo and the Diocese of Mexico have been elevated, to the Glory of Christ and His Church.

It is my hope that in the future, questions will not be asked about if there is an Orthodox Church in Mexico, but rather, how we can help support its work. Now, more than ever, the entire Orthodox Church in America can become aware that throughout Mexico and Latin America, there exists an alive and active Orthodox Church made up of our brothers and sisters in Christ. The Diocese of Mexico is part of us; part of our body; the body of Christ. It is a part of us which we can all share in and support through our ongoing prayers and ministry efforts.  Truly, the historic event witnessed by hundreds gives us the hope that the gospel will take hold and bring forth much fruit in Latin America. If you or your parish would like to learn more about or assist in supporting missionary efforts in Mexico and Latin America, please feel free to contact Father Antonio Perdomo at 956-781-2388 or 781-6114 or by email at padreantoniop@aol.com. 

To view a photo collection from the weekend’s events, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8135007@N03/collections/72157612808480334/

Well, since I'll be leaving to college once again Monday morning, here is a quick update before things start moving light-speed again.

My semester will be similar to last one except that
(a) I'll probably be doing reader's services on campus once a week (I pray that works out)
(b) I'll be studying economics and theology ("understanding the Bible") instead of politics and philosophy, respectively
(c) um, it will be spring. . . and I'll be on the other side of campus

What else to say?!? Here we go, all in one breath. . .  James, I hope your birthday was great (we have your sister here right now, so maybe she can personally convey our best wishes [late though they be] personally, if, that is, she can be pried from the small tornado the girls are able to inexplicably create), congrats to those who have shown forth their surprising writing abilities, Joanna I hope your back feels better!! I need to watch treasure planet again (haven't seen that in millennia), happy trails to those in Mexico, happy, um, namesday (?) mom, happy flying to super-dad, yay for those able to fully appreciate the genius of the music in Zelda, Jeremy keep on makin' them videos, Ben be the conquistador of technology, Jordan keep on reading them finance books, Rachel finish that book (I'm curious for goodness' sake), and Rebecca get really good at hoola hooping.

wheeew. That was intense. Forgive me if I've forgotten anyone, I wrote this sorta really fast. Really really fast.

HAPPY SEMESTER EVERYONE!!

CHRISTMAS!!!!!

So as I said I wasn't positive about what exactly I was going to write about, but I decided it will be about the last things that happened at college. Finals, and that squirrel.

Finals first: How did they go? Well. . .
English ("literary tradition"): this one everyone sort of panicked about and studied like crazy for. We were memorizing quotes, plotlines, obscure monologues, the name of that one plant Hermes gave Odysseus to he wouldn't turn into a pig on Cerce's island (called Moly by the way), etc. Turns out it wasn't too bad an exam. I think it went all right. (it also turns out it was wise to memorize Moly, since it was on the exam, strangely enough).

Physics: Physics we actually took the final for before Thanksgiving, because our professor accelerated the course a bit so he could publish a book, I think. Since we took it so long ago, I already know my grade: 98. So that was fine, and also a fun course.

Math: no real problems here; there were some strange calculus theorums, and some tricky questions (like using implicit differentiation to prove that the tangent line to a circle is always perpendicular to the radius at that point), but overall I think it was fine.

Philosophy: This exam also included a reasonable amount of panic. However, after attending two or three separate study sessions after spending a whole day in the library studying on my own for this particular exam as well, I think it went all right, but it's so hard to tell how well you did when the questions are all either short-answer or essay.

Politics: Yuck. I officially don't like politics. Don't get me wrong, the course itself wasn't badly done (it was actually very well organized and often interesting), I just don't have politics in me. Nevertheless, it dealt with actual solid facts and outlines, and thus was tolerable since I guess I have a very formulaic mind. And I'm ecstatic that I'm finished with ALL politics courses for the REST OF MY LIFE. Happy times, happy times.

So that's that.
Now the squirrel.
Yesterday morning at college, I was preparing to leave. I was walking along the path from my new to my former dorm to check out, just strolling along during the very wet, crisp and cool, but not too frigid morning, hands in my jacket, minding my own business (possibly whistling a tune). Then I saw a squirrel.

Squirrels at UD are bizarrely common. They frequent every path, burying nuts, digging up nuts, looking for nuts, throwing nuts down from trees at people (literally), and all the other spaztic things that squirrels do. They are used to people, and thus will allow a passerby to get within a very close range before they decide they are in intolerable levels of danger and bound away.

So this squirrel was doing just this, digging around for nuts, a few feet off the path. Then it realized two things at once.
1) It was very wet
2) I was uncomfortably close
Its little mind could apparently not cope with deciding which issue to solve first. So it solved both at once.
Here I am just walking along, about 4 feet away from this little squirrel, when it suddenly jumps backwards through the air in a spinning flip, convulsing and thrashing while bounding away at the same time. Its aerial acrobatics were astounding, if maniacal and strange.

Nevertheless, at the end it was both dry and a comfortable distance away from my predatorial claws, so I suppose it accomplished its task. I wonder why humans never multitask like that too.

All done with finals!!! Now to focus on Christmas. . .

I'll be writing a longer post than this tomorrow. What will it be about? Beats me. All I know is that I'm DONE WITH FINALS!!!!!

MEEEERRRRRRYYYY CHRISTMAAAAAAS!!!!!!!