Youthful Stewards of the Metropolis,

What a great privilege it is for me to address you as the Metropolis launches our Teen and GOYA website!  It’s amazing for me to think that since my days in GOYA at the Annunciation Church in Modesto with Fr. Jon and my peers, that we have reached a point when our Metropolis would have its own GOYA website, not to mention that many of us would communicate with our high school students through cell phones, text message, IM, and google chat as well as keep up with their lives through “My Space” pages (Yes, many of us know how to access these pages and my oh my, the things we have learned.  Don’t worry, we’lll save for this for another discussion)!

Although our approach to communication may have “evolved” over the years, and the dynamic of a particular GOYA has modified with discussions and activities of the day, there remains the greatest of commonalities…our Orthodox faith.  Yes, each of us is going to live out our Faith and offer our stewardship in a unique manner befitting our particular reflection of God, yet regardless of our age and the age in which we live, we all make up the Body of Christ.  By virtue of this membership in His Body and the responsibilities that you struggle to live in your lives with the support of your Church, your families, and your fellow GOYAn’s you are further unique in our contemporary society.  And, I sincerely applaud your noble efforts!

Let me explain why I commend you to such a degree by looking at the Biblical story of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew, chapters 5-7…  It’s in this elevated setting that the Jesus preaches the Beatitudes, that is, the blessings of being His disciple.  The final verse of the blessings (v 12) encourages His disciples to rejoice with gladness in their persecution as there is a good possibility that they will be rejected and/or persecuted for choosing to follow Him.  Ultimately, their reward will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now, you choose to follow Christ, praying the services of the Church, participating in GOYA, and making the wise decisions, which bear witness to the world that you are an icon, in the works, of Jesus.  Not quite being of the social norm, some of your peers will support you, others will not.  And, for this I commend you, because it is most challenging for all of us, regardless of age, but especially when we are young, to find ourselves outside the norm.

According to the Lord though, being a bit outside the norm on account of your commitment to Him is a blessing.  It might not be easy as He assured His disciples, but it is the blessed way of life.   

I think it is worth mentioning that the Lord didn’t spend time outlining the harms, distractions, or stumbling blocks of this world.  He didn’t even tell them to avoid various people.  Instead, He chose to focus upon the qualities for which His followers would receive crowns in heaven. 

On the flip side, we often find ourselves in GOYA, religious education lessons, and retreats, addressing drugs and alcohol, sex, violence, cheating…all the obstacles that you might encounter as you mature.  These are valuable discussions, but the message can get a bit redundant for all of us.  And, truthfully, each of us knows truly what is Godly and what is not.  

As you launch YOUR Teen and GOYA website, my hopes for YOU, our youthful stewards, is that YOU can use this site to talk not just about the expectations of being a youthful image of Christ, but also the blessings and the opportunities that come through your life in Christ!  Contribute writings, post pictures, highlight opportunities for fellowship, whether in your parish or on a Metropolis level, and make the site YOUR homepage, so that YOU always get a positive, supportive, familiar, fun, and Christ-centered start to YOUR time online.  Truly the sky is the limit for YOUR creativity and the functionality of YOUR site, while the Kingdom of Heaven remains the great reward for each and every one of us who struggles as Orthodox Christians. [I hope YOU got the hint that this GOYA website is YOUR website!] 

Congratulations on your new website! God’s blessings to you this Advent (the 40 days leading up to Christmas) and know that I look forward to seeing you at Church on Sunday (if you are one of my GOYAns), at our Christmas lock-in at St. Katherine Church in Elk Grove (if you live in Nor Cal), during our Lenten Retreat (if you are in the Bay Area or Central Valley) or at Summer Camp at St. Nicholas Ranch in 2006!

In Christ,

+Fr. Chris Flesoras