{"id":69036,"date":"2020-06-01T11:21:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T11:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/?p=69036"},"modified":"2020-06-01T11:21:23","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T11:21:23","slug":"covid-19-helped-revive-elements-of-monasticism-in-our-life-says-mar-seraphim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/?p=69036","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 helped revive elements of monasticism in our life, says Mar Seraphim"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

#Calls upon the clergy to adapt to changes to make the church ministry more effective<\/p>\n

BENGALURU:\u00a0 \u201cThe long period of lock-down due to increased spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has helped revive the principles of monasticism or monk hood in our daily lives.\u201d
\nSays His Grace Dr Abraham Mar Seraphim, Bengaluru Diocese Metropolitan, who after staying indoor for two months at the Diocese HQ admits that lockdown has helped revive monasticism and relate to family lives in the present context.
\n\u201cWith staying home and virtually no room for travel, Orthodox\u00a0Christian\u00a0families are devoting more time and longer hours for prayers, Bible reading and teaching,\u201d His Grace says adding that family and monk-hood (sanyasin) are two parts but with a single purpose or destiny of seeking kingdom of God.
\nOther than the ascetic like and cloistered lives, adapting to farming has also brought about a change in lifestyles \u2013 an aspect which some of the devoted families introduced during the lock-down period.
\nComparing family and monk as a community with norms and disciplines, His Grace adds these require staying together for effective results.
\n\u201cFamily aspects during lock-down period showed elements of monasticism like renouncing some worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work,\u201d he says.
\nMar Seraphim, the youngest Bishop of Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Church, and a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Metropolitan LL Philipose Mar Eusebius (1931-2009) of Thumpamon Diocese, was very much influenced by life at St Basil Dayara, Pathanamthitta, Kerala.
\nMar Seraphim quotes Gregory of Nyssa, an erudite theologian venerated as a saint in Oriental Orthodoxy, who said that \u201cone who entered into marriage life is really entering the monastic life.\u201d
\nThe Metropolitan who paid a 5-day visit in 2019 to Mount Athos,\u00a0\u2018the Holy Mountain\u2019\u00a0in northeastern Greece and an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism, also shared his experiences with fellow monastics.
\nHis Grace was awestruck at the tough daily chores of professionals turned monastics and how they renounced worldly pleasures to devote oneself fully to spiritual work.
\nThis struck a chord with the visiting Bishop whose short stay left a lasting impression and how youngsters were attracted to rigid life at the monastery.
\nMount Athos is home to 20 monasteries under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
\nDuring the interview, the Metropolitan also called upon the clergy to adapt to changes in order to make the church ministry more effective and relevant. \u201cThis has to be done on a constant basis and not just during times like the present pandemic,\u201d he mentions.
\nMar Seraphim who completed 25 years of faithful ministry in\u00a0Christ\u00a0mentions about a \u2018compassionate heart\u2019 both for clergymen and bishops as a basic element for the ministry to develop further.
\nHe calls upon clergymen to bring about a one-to-one in the ministry and only with a \u2018compassionate heart\u2019 can we bring about a change just like Jesus\u00a0Christ.
\nThis calls for personal attention with the members of the church or congregation and will help drive away stress, insecurity fears or anxiety among them during the present pandemic.
\nOne has to give proper attention to listening aspects among the members and the present situation is the right occasion for it, he adds.
\nAs the pandemic forced churches were close doors, Bengaluru Diocese which is celebrating its Decennial Jubilee this year under Mar Seraphim, live streamed the holy Passion Week services and the weekend liturgical services for the first time.
\nMar Seraphim also touched upon aspects like the present and future challenges of the Church, his perspective on ministry, vision and how children can lead a spiritual life.
\nDn Job Sam Mathew conducted the interviews which were recorded at the Bengaluru Diocese HQ during the lockdown period.
\nThe full length interviews in Malayalam can be viewed on YouTube at MOSC Bangalore Diocese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

#Calls upon the clergy to adapt to changes to make the church ministry more effective BENGALURU:\u00a0 \u201cThe long period of lock-down due to increased spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diocesan-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69038,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69036\/revisions\/69038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/69037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/malankaraorthodox.tv\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}