My dear beloved Brothers and Sisters!

Fr. Yakov 

      
Please read my letter if you are already happy; and if you are not, please come to our church and we will share with you some little seeds of it. We get them directly from the Sower.

For many years, as a priest (and, therefore, a mandatory delegate of official church assemblies), I was forced to listen to many kinds of departmental reports – on church education and church music, youth ministry and especially finances. During the breaks at these meetings, I ate lunch along with everyone else – with the lay delegates and the bishops. Some of the churches serve lunch equally for the hierarchs and for us – on plastic plates, with plastic utensils; some honor the Bishops with stainless steel amenities and porcelain. In many instances, the deans join the higher authorities at a specially placed table, which is always perpendicular to the rest of the tables, where we, “the poor Uzbeks” – priests, deacons and lay ladies, chew our pirogy with saurkraut.

I was always happy to see my friends, and such meetings are a great opportunity. Check Psalm 103 and you will understand the joy I managed to mushroom from such gatherings.

All the reports on the annual achievements of diocesan or national importance -- I was not able to grasp well. Maybe, I thought, I am not good (smart?) enough, or maybe we are in the Ark of Noah – a crowded, noisy and stinky ark, but who cares, if it brings us to our Salvation!

One thing I couldn't understand and still do not – what are the achievements by which we measure the annual progress of our church? The success of some events seems to be measured by attendance; others by monetary savings. The chancery needs to save money and lays off personnel – and at the same time adds to unemployment numbers and to the financial distress of individuals. At one point, in our NY- NJ Diocese, $300 was saved, by slashing money from the budget assigned for sending postcards to widowed Matushkas; poor creatures – they missed Christmas and Paschal greetings. So what are the criteria of our life in the Church?

In our parish at St. Mary Magdalen, we are doing poorly compared with Goldman Sachs. I never had even a one-digit bonus. Even more so, our bill payments are often delayed, and if we will use credit cards, our interest rate will go sky high, and poor as we are, will be even poorer. Sometimes I have to delay my own bill payments. Our church can not contribute to a retirement plan, and if I will retire one day, I will depend on the Sunday coffee hour for my very desirable cake and coffee with cream.

Yesterday, my friend, who is familiar with our situation, told me that ordained seminarians often have a hard time finding a parish – old priests do not want to retire, as they will lose house and income, and retirement benefits are not enough. Some of us will be forced to a very honorable death in the Altar, or in the worst case – in the church hall or on the way to bless a parishioner’s house. In any case – in the line of duty. I do like it very much!

Nevertheless, I love where I am. Our parishioners love our church and do what they can to sustain it – emotionally, spiritually and financially. Just come and hear our choir! Our bells are inside of the church, but are rung joyfully and melodically. Our Altar will be a bit tight to hold Metropolitan Jonah in full vestments. But it is better than with previous miniature Metropolitans. I feel big with big Metropolitan and small with smaller ones, who never learned how to climb a tree. We have no cupola, because we are in a residential building in the middle of the block, and our processions are from corner to corner on the street, but we have the chance to sing in Spanish to the joy of our Latino neighbours. Our social hall is small and noisy, but this noise is different than the noise heard by Moses when he came down from the mountain with the holy tablets. Our babies scream their Psalms in their own language, understood by moms only. One of them told me that her son wants communion faster.

Did I mention that we have no parking lot? Not enough space for people to sit during sermons, but a very clean floor, thanks to the solo ministry of our eldest parishioner, Victoria. Please, remember her in your prayers.

Did I mention that most of the people are late for Liturgy? All week they hurry to their work, squeezed in public transportation and enduring the critical glances of their superiors. Shall I do the same to them on the one day they can cuddle a few extra minutes in a warm bed?

But when, in the middle of the Third Antiphon, I hear the joyful power of the choir, my soul rejoices as much as my body, despite the delayed salary and the total absence of any presence of a bonus.

We love and enjoy each other; we love our church. Is this a good measurement of our being?

In recent years, a number of economists and social scientists have discovered a surprising trend. Although the U.S. and Canada have traditionally used financial indicators such as GDP, the Dow Jones, and consumer confidence to measure a society’s well-being, these indicators are a poor measure of how happy our citizens are. In fact, as nations become wealthier, the correlations between income and happiness become weaker. The same thing will be projected in the church life. God forbid!

The concept of 'Gross National Happiness' (GNH) was introduced into political discourse in the 1960s by the late king of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. In 1971, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck made his famous statement that "Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product." Shame on us, Christians, for forgetting it.

Are we missing something? What is the product of our church? How gross is it?

Our Gross National Product may be small and gross, but our Gross Christian Happiness is on a very high level. Come and see.

And finally, in order to prove my point, I have to tell you that for past 15 years in our church there were no funerals, but plenty of weddings, baptisms and chrismations!

We pray for the sick and for the traveling – they get better and they return; we pray for our students and they graduate; we prayed for our solder Zach and he is back from Afganistan unharmed (he wants to go back, but we do not pray); we pray for our President … so it will get better soon.

I am sure now that I will see you soon. Do not worry to be late; park your car nearby and do not worry about tickets…

May God bless you. Love. Father Yakov
    

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