Devshirme

And the work continues.  Here are some more pictures of the extensive work begun Monday at the Cathedral.  Here is my denuded office, cleared of everything except the books, which have been covered.

Here is a view of the auditorium with stuff piled everywhere – many thanks to the GOYAns and college kids who lugged everything around for several days.

This sad picture shows the food pantry minus all the food.  The good news, though, is that the Orthodox Food Pantry will continue to run every Saturday out of the same building, and when the project is done it will have its own space, complete with a refrigerator – one feature which it does not currently have.

This is an airlock for the rooms where asbestos was found.  Asbestos is only a danger when it is removal time, so the rooms were secured and the stuff was all vacuumed out.  Ray, the project director, calls suprises such as the finding of asbestos “ghosts” because they pop up unexpectedly.

Demolition of the old bathrooms and foyer area:

This last picture shows one of the rooms which will now be opened up for a full view of the park.

Construction has begun on our remodeling project at the Cathedral.  Actually, demolition has begun, with construction to follow.  Here is a picture of a classroom being gutted:

Last week, on one of those super hot summer days here in Worcester, I had a crazy and unpleasant adventure.  It was one of those days where I was zipping around to the different hospitals to visit parishioners.  On the way back from Memorial Hospital my coolant light dinged and lit.  I was near Elm Street and thus not too far from the Cathedral, as well as not too far from Takis & Sons, my go-to foreign auto mechanics.  I looked at the temperature gauge and it rocketed to the red zone.  Oh no!  My mission focus kicked in, and I drove straight to the church, since I had some stuff to take care of there.  I parked in a shady spot (like that would help), turned off the engine, and opened the hood.  I called Takis and he told me let the engine cool off for 20 minutes or so, turn it back on and see where the guage was.  If it was not in the red zone, drive it (the 3/4 of a mile/mile) to his shop.  If it hit the red zone en route, pull over and wait again.  So I had a nerve-wracking, knuckle-clenched, hunched-over-the-steering-wheel ride to Takis’s place, but the needle stayed midway and never reached the red zone.  The weird engine sounds which had begun on Elm Street, before I reached the church, kicked in and got louder.  But thankfully I reached his shop without the engine blowing up or anything else I feared might happen.  The damage from what was probably a busted thermostat on such a hot day?  The water pump, serpentine belt and belt tensioner all were toast, and the antifreeze tank was blown to smithereens.  Thankfully Takis took care of things that evening and the Jetta (and I) were back on the road the next morning.

Last night I set up an account on Twitter for the Cathedral.  You can keep track of our goings-on by following @StSpyridon.  I have a personal Twitter account – @FrXtakos – which I use for my own silly musings and ramblings, but the idea behind the Cathedral handle is that it will be used for announcing upcoming events, cancellations, maybe a weekly name day roundup, that sort of thing.  It is important for us as a Cathedral to embrace New Media stuff in all its forms, and Twitter is right up there with blogs, texting, podcasts, and Facebook.  Everything helps us get the word out.  So if you are on Twitter, please follow @StSpyridon.  If you are not, please at least check out the site and consider signing up.

The biennial clergy-laity gathering of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is going on right now in Atlanta.  The official website is here and on it you can read the reports of the many ministries of the Archdiocese.  I highly recommend taking some time to do this.  A portion of our stewardship money goes to the Archdiocese and I for one like to know what happens to it.  In addition to ministry reports the conference has workshops, a trade-shop aspect (where you can buy books, vestments, etc), meetings, services and fun activities.  I went to the conference in Los Angeles some years ago and saw the Village People at the Hollywood Bowl!  Fr. Peter just returned from the Romanian Archiocese’s equivalent – this must be a popular time of the year to hold such things.

Yesterday John L. was taking pictures inside the Cathedral for the planned Holy Trinity calendar (with pictures from all 12 Council churches).  Serena was there along with George Photakis, who was early for a baptism, and we spent some time chatting about the old church on Orange Street.  Both the church and the street are long gone – they were located where the Worcester library is.  I mentioned that I have never seen pictures of the interior of the old church, although there are several exterior shots hung in the Cathedral hallway.  Both George and John’s parents were married there, so we figured out at least wedding photos exist to show what it looked like.  George then started talking about the building of the Cathedral and, while looking at the stained glass windows, I noticed a mistake in one of them.  Can you pick it out?

Last Sunday groups of people from most of the 64 communities in the Boston Metropolis converged at Lombardo’s in Randolph, MA, for the annual Metropolis ministry awards dinners.  This is always a big event – there were something like 800 people there.  A hearty Axios to Al Matulaitis, who earned the laity award from our community.  Below are the His Eminence’s remarks from the evening:

“Tonight, as our Metropolis gathers for the 24^th time to honor the recipients of the Ministry Award, we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of our Camp Ministry.   Since 1990, over 4500 youngsters from throughout New England, America (and for that matter throughout the world) have attended our Summer and Winter Camp programs  which have been hosted since 1999 at our St. Methodios Faith and Heritage Center in Contoocook, NH.  We hope that many camp alumni will attend our 20^th Anniversary Reunion and Open House on Saturday, July 24.

            The camping experience has been one of fun and fellowship which has sought to strengthen the faith of our young people.

            The well organized program affords them the opportunity to engage in discussions with clergy and well trained councilors concerning issues they face in their lives.  They learn how to effectively respond to life’s challenges.  They have the opportunity to discuss their life experiences which are examined under the lens of our faith heritage.  We try to help our young people see clearly which direction they should seek in their lives.  We encourage them to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and look forward to the future with confidence.  We encourage them instead of striving for worldly success to strive for lasting significance.

            What has made the Metropolis of Boston Camp so successful is that it is a fun experience.  Campers have the opportunity to participate in a variety of different activities such as volleyball, baseball, basketball, arts and crafts, fishing, dancing, cooking, swimming and numerous other activities.  The fun and fellowship they share provide opportunities to build lifelong friendships amongst not only their peers, but with the dedicated staff members who serve as role models and mentors.

            What we have achieved at our camp is thanks in great part to the Youth Ministers of our Metropolis over these 20 years.  I thank once again our Youth Directors, Father Chris Foustoukos, Father Ted Barbas, and Father Phil Mussis, Mike Sintros and Dino Pappas and the hundreds of staff members and volunteers who have offered such a dynamic ministry.

            It has long been our vision to reach out to offer similar ministries to the adults of our parishes.  Last September, we opened the doors to our new Retreat House on the grounds of the Faith and Heritage Center.  It has fast become a spiritual home away from home where everyone finds joy, peace, healing and salvation.

            It is there where the power, truth and beauty of our Faith may be experienced in a pristine environment.

            We hope that our ministry to adults– to our Parish Councils, Philoptochos, Choir Members, to our educators, senior citizens, etc. — be as effective as has our outreach to our campers who have enjoyed a life changing experience.

            The life of prayer, the study of our theology and the emulation of the lives of the Saints equips all of us—young and old alike–to address the many challenges and opportunities of life.

            It is of vital importance that our Retreat House be a beacon of faith and hope because we seem to have lost sight of what is important and genuine in life.

            The popular mindset today defines  happiness as the ability to acquire the next pleasure as quickly as possible whether that be in the form of a better job, more money, luxury, fashion, etc.

            Living as we do in a culture of entitlement, we have been lured into believing that we deserve everything we have and desire.

            We are experiencing an unparalleled crisis of the human person, of marriage and family, and the Church must respond effectively.

            Sadly, the world around us has come to tolerate, embrace and even champion behaviors and lifestyles that were unacceptable to past generations. The Ten Commandments are nowhere to be found in public places in America.  Our courts have surgically removed every vestige of Christianity from our children’s classrooms.   Traditional Christian values are rejected, ridiculed and demonized.  Sadly, we have become tolerant of all sorts of evil, and of those who promote behavior and beliefs foreign to the eternal truths of the Gospel.  All of us– but especially our young people–are seduced to debauched forms of self expression. Self destructive behavior has been systematically transformed into acceptable—even preferable lifestyles!  Corruption, selfishness and foolishness are packaged today as enlightened, liberated and even spiritually advanced behavior.  Evil has been made to appear as good, and good to appear as evil.  Moral confusion and relativism have permeated our lives.  Their proponents are leading society to abysmal levels of banality never before known to mankind.

            This is why it is so very important that we all be vigilant, that our Retreat House be a beacon of Faith and Hope effectively addressing the needs of the our people.

            With your encouragement we will do our best to meet the challenges of our time.

Great article in the local paper today on the Grecian Festival.  You can also see a bunch of Cathedral peeps, including me, in this video.   (I still can’t figure out how to embed video).  Here is a nice picture of Gus and Joan from the T&G article:

Yesterday we filmed a segment for Coffee With Konnie at the Cathedral – specifically,  right outside the front doors of the church.  Nick. B, Nick M. and I sat and chatted with Konnie Lukes and had a grand old time.  The subject was the festival and all that goes into it.  It was cool filming outside on what really was a perfect day.  The show will air next week at its usual times – check out the website.  It is hard to believe we are less than two weeks away from the Grecian Festival!  The Office Angels were doing a mailing at the same time as our interview, and the camera man thought it would be nice to get a shot of them showing off some of the products of their baking.  The ladies were reluctant to go on camera at first, out of modesty, but after much hemming and hawing, and nagging from me, they were filmed and all had a splendid time.  Here is a picture that I snapped:

The program book is up on Sarah’s blog – check it out.  All involved did a great job – Sarah spearheaded the effort with four young children, including a newborn, at home – unbelievable!  The original content is fun and the ads are beautifully set out – advertisers definitely got their money’s worth and more.  Printed versions will be out soon as well.  Hard to believe the Grecian Festival will be upon us in just a few weeks.