Hurricane Harvey
Even the most cursory look from afar has revealed in the past few days
the horror of the impact on the Texan city of Houston & its
surrounding areas from the winds & floods from Hurricane Harvey.
We, of the Fellowship of the Transfiguration, along with friends &
followers, offer our heartfelt prayers to all those suffering terribly
from the ensuing calamity. The Fellowship has often said that we have a
very important God given priestly role to pray as baptized Christians
to intercede on behalf of God’s creation that was afflicted by the sin
of Adam & Eve. Thus, we not only pray for those directly impacted by
this storm, which for some has even meant the taking of their lives &
for many, their homes & all they possess but we pray for the City of
Huston, the State of Texas, our country as a whole, for this whole
planet, indeed the whole cosmos that God has planted us in. Please do
not therefore think that your prayers are of little value. On the
contrary, they are of immense value.
Secondly, many people have already expressed a desire to help as
citizens & fellow human beings by offering monetary donations to help
alleviate the sufferings of those directly impacted. If you wish to
donate but also feel confident that your money will be well placed,
there is no better organization to do so than through the
International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC). It has a well
deserved reputation for helping in times of crisis. This body was
established in 1992, IOCC is the official humanitarian agency of the
Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America
[1]. In 2017, IOCC celebrated its 25th year of global philanthropic
outreach. Please go to: iocc.org to be able to donate.
Thirdly, on Friday, September 1st., the Ecumenical Patriarch calls
on the whole Orthodox Church to use the Interdict Service for the
beginning of the Orthodox Liturgical year to pray for the whole of
God’s creation. Not only have all the various jurisdictions of the
Orthodox Church responded to his call to pray in this way but so too
have non Orthodox Christians: Roman Catholics, main line Protestants &
many evangelical Protestants have called their congregations to do the
same. This is a timely event that helps us to focus on the importance
of interceding, not only for ourselves, our families & our friends but
for all of Creation.
Having said that, the Fellowship of the Transfiguration has been
saying since its formation that we cannot ignore the warnings that the
great majority of the scientific community has been issuing in regard
to the impact man made global warming is having on climate change &
how it will intensify storms such as Harvey. Nor can we ignore the
observation that three massive storms: Catrina, Sandy & now Harvey
have impacted the USA in the past 12 years. They also seem to be
getting stronger. This will not be the end of it but is only the
beginning of the impact from global warming. Scientists also fear how
it will impact the polar ice caps because they are showing evidence of
accelerated melting. If they were to melt significantly, it would have
a catastrophic impact on the whole globe!
Please therefore, help your loved ones & friends to understand the
gravity of this looming crisis and to make every effort to act
responsibly towards the environment or God’s creation in your homes,
your parishes, your communities, your cities and indeed, the whole
nation. The situation is not without hope, however. Even though Adam &
Eve sinned, God has shown us ways that we can play our part. Our
website has written a lot about what Christ wants from us and how He
wants us to intercede through our baptism & our Churches’ priestly
role. Use them whenever possible. It also has a lot of practical
advice on how we can act responsibly towards God’s creation, plus much
more.
Please know that the Fellowship of the Transfiguration, which sees as
its mission, the neednto focus on the care of God’s creation, has you
in its prayers as we face yet another crisis in this fallen world that
God has planted us.
Yours, in Christ
Very Rev. Archpriest Terence Baz, D.Min
Board Member of the Fellowship of the Transfiguration