Friday morning: April 27. 4 days until I fly to Kyiv. Two days until my final Sunday at Open Arms, my church home since 2000. I am reflective these days. People seem to think that I am leaving my culture to go the East. In fact, I am returning to it. From the time I was a youngster, my eyes and heart have turned toward the East. I found peace and comfort in the Maronite and Byzantine Catholic Churches while just into my teen years. I entered the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus, for the purpose of being sent to Baghdad. I studied and sang Arabic and Aramaic as part of the choir of Our Lady of the Cedars of Lebanon Church in Boston. Saeedat-il-Arz in Arabic. My preparations were for service in the Eastern Churches. My love of eastern divine liturgy has been a constant.
I didn't expect the great honor of being ordained a priest of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchy but that honor came to me anyway.
So, going to Ukraine, having MCC duties and responsibilities for Eastern Europe, creating a life and a network of relationships in the East is not a turning my back on all things American or Western. It is a re-turning to a passion I've had all my life for the Eastern Church. To be loved back by my friends in the East is just an indication of more blessings and rightness in my life.
