Meeting with Father Bohdan

Fr Bohdan

Fr. Bohdan agreed to meet with me at the Church for a short discussion.  I wanted his guidance something and I also had a question about “my progress as a catechumen.”   

First, as to his guidance: I started out explaining something he already knew. Even though I have only known him for about a year, he knows my connection to Orthodoxy has been for over a decade. Even though I had a desire to convert almost from the very beginning, it was Father Gary who would only consent to it IF my wife gave her support in the matter (unless I felt my very Salvation were at sake, that is.) Well, my wife was not a big fan and, honestly, a part of me was reluctant to move ahead since I knew it would bring a lot of stress to our family life.  So I bided my time and stayed as close to Orthodoxy as I could manage when, as a protestant, I was pretty involved in my protestant church -working with the kids, being a board member, working at the media booth making sure we were livestreaming – which meant I would attend Vespers from time to time and Sunday Divine Liturgy even less than that.  But all the while I was a protestant with my wife, I was Orthodox in my heart.

 

As you know, that changed when my wife began her journey to be Roman Catholic and she insisted that, since I would not be Roman Catholic, that I become Orthodox.

 

My question for Fr. Bohdan: “How do I balance being a good husband and supporting my wife in her journey and remaining faithful to Orthodoxy?”

I wanted to know how to keep my Orthodox identity but at the same time, pray with my wife, even attend Mass with her from time to time.

Fr. Bohdan said it is most important that I pray with her. I should strive for unity with her, as far as I can. I asked about doing “some Catholic things,” like crossing myself with holy water. (Karen put a holy water fixture on our wall.) He explained that these little things (what Catholics call Sacramentals, not to be confused with Sacraments) can be helpful in our  daily walk and help us to keep focused on Christ during our day to day struggles. He explained how, when he was in seminary, he would partake of Holy Water and prosphora (Blessed Bread) daily to help him get through the day.  Basically, I should strive for as much unity with my wife as I can. I was strickly forbidden to receive communion in the Catholic Church, which is something I knew already. I should not “fight” with my wife, trying to force a conversion. That I knew already also. 

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Holy Water Font my wife bought. Fr. Bohdan he can give me Holy Water so both Karen
and I can cross ourselves when we leave the house. 

There are some on the internet that say I should not even pray with my wife because she is not Orthodox. That, of course, makes no sense to me and my meeting with Fr. Bohdan reinforced that idea.  So, now, as a husband, I need to step up my game and pray with Karen more and help her in her journey to Christ and she helps me.  His advice to me was reassuring.

Now regarding my progress as a catechumen, I admit I was a bit frustrated because I didn’t know about when I would be joined to the Church (i.e., Chrismated.) At the Monday night Catechumen class, it was not discussed what the timeline would be. Thinking about it, that makes sense since, at the class, there are different people in different stages, some of them are very new to Orthodoxy and know very little about it, while, others, like myself, have been hanging around for a while and know a thing or two.  Discussion on when to be brought into the Church is better done on a one to one basis. 

That being said, he believed that I should be Christmated sometime in November so that I could receive the Eucharist during Christmas.  That is great news  (and also terrifying news given I shall have to ready myself to receive the Body and Blood of Christ!) While I thought that I was forgotten, because no timeline had been mentioned to me,  it seems that Fr. Bohdan had this in mind for a while because he mentioned that I would be Christmated with someone else who was ready to enter the Church. (Not gonna mention who right now since I don’t know if they know yet- Fr. Bohdan said that person was going to be baptized while I was to be Christmated. I have to remember to bring in my baptismal certificate from when I was baptized in the Catholic Church.)

It will be on a Saturday sometime in November and Fr. Bohdan mentioned if I wanted to host a little reception afterwards that the Church Hall was available. Maybe I will. Perhaps a cake and some coffee? I’ll think about it.

So, as things become firmed up, I’ll let you all know. 

Keep me in your prayers as I strive to grow close to Christ, His Church and grow closer to my wife.