Eastern Christian Insights
Embodied Holiness: Homily for the First Sunday of Great Lent (The Sunday of Orthodoxy) in the Orthodox Church
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Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-40; John 1:43-51 Some people think that the point of religion is to strengthen families and societies by giving people a motive to be moral. They want to put the fear of God in us so that we will do the right thing and make the world a better place. As laudable as those goals are, they are not why our Lord died on the Cross and rose on…
Glory to God for All Things
Truth, Lies and Icons
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As verbal beings, we live in a world of icons. We experience the world in an iconic fashion. A major difficulty for us is that we have lost the vocabulary of iconic reality. We have substituted the language of photography. The dissonance between reality and our photographic assumptions has led us to doubt both. Man is an iconographer and needs to re-learn what that means. +++ Franz Kafka famously wrote: “The Lie…
No Other Foundation
A suggestion about baptism from St. Gregory the Theologian
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In the debate about baptism with which we are all familiar, we may note a set of binary alternatives: either one baptizes an adult candidate on the basis of their mature decision to repent and believe or one baptizes an infant on the basis of promises made by his or her sponsors. These alternatives usually wear the theological labels of “believer’s baptism” and “infant baptism”. Usually this binary involves another binary, with…
The Morning Offering
The Great and Holy Lenten Fast
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Modern science sees the value of the Church’s tradition of fasting From Old Testament times, the people of God prepared for holy occasions with fasting and prayer, and the New Testament continued with this holy tradition. The Lord Himself fasted for forty days before beginning His earthly ministry, demonstrating the importance of fasting before starting any spiritual task. Christ even…
Father Bill's Blog
110. The Triumph of Orthodoxy
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The Triumph of Orthodoxy? That sounds brash and prideful, as if we think we Orthodox have beat everybody else out in this “religious game”, that we have all the truth and others have none because we’re so smart and everybody else is so stupid (sounds like modern politics), or that we’ve taken over the world or something. That is not at all what we mean. Let me explain. But first let’s go back…
Faith Encouraged
God or the Snake?
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“She made me do it.” This was the “excuse of my daughter when I asked her why she hit her sister! Wow, that’s a lot of power to give to someone else! It seems we humans have a particular gift for shifting the blame to someone else when we make mistakes. We also seem to be particularly good at excusing or justifying our choices even when those choices turn out badly! …
The Morning Offering
The Institutional Church
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The “institutional” Church must be ripped from our mindset The public scandal of bishops protecting clergy and church workers, in the wake of the sexual abuse of countless children, have shocked the world, and undermined the spiritual and moral authority of the Roman Catholic Church. This, together with the very public moral failings of some well-known televangelists, have left many…
Raising Saints
Contemplating the Incarnation: Pilgrimage and Sunday of Orthodoxy
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I spent ten days on pilgrimage in the Holy Land. (That’s right! You can call me Elissa Hadzi-Bjeletich now!) As they say, we walked in Christ’s footsteps; we touched the stones that He touched. Again and again, we said to ourselves, This is where it happened. Right here on this spot. As I prepared to embark on this pilgrimage, I thought a lot about what that means. God is everywhere; He is…
Time Eternal
Got askesis envy? Advice from a desert monk
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In the Orthodox Church, Great Lent is enriched by the memory of the most celebrated monastics of Christian memory–St. Andrew of Crete (who got his start as a hierarch and hymnographer in a monastery near Jerusalem), St. John of the Ladder, and St. Mary of Egypt, to name a few. Surrounded by these virtuous souls, it’s easy…
Walking an Ancient Path
Great Lent: Out with the New, In with the Old
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Faith Encouraged
You Are a Living Breath of God
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Phillip James Bailey, an English poet of the late 19th century, once said: “Let each man think himself an act of God; his mind a thought; his life, a breath of God; and let each try, by great thoughts and good deeds to show the most of heaven he hath in him.” One of the amazing revelations of the Orthodox Christian Faith is the high dignity humanity has in this wondrous creation.…
The Morning Offering
Quietude
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Quietude, silence and prayer It is in keeping constant vigilance, guarding our senses, and living a life of repentance and self-rapprochement, that we can hope to gain control of our passions and enter into true communion with God. The basic element of such a life has got to include quietude, for it is in states of calmness and inner reflection…
Praying in the Rain
Knowing Your Measure
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I’ve been reading the letters of Sts. Barsanuphius and John, written in the early sixth century in the region of Gaza. One thing that has struck me as I am reading these letters is the pastoral compassion and just plain common sense these two holy men advocate in their correspondence. These letters are written by and to monks living in extreme conditions. Some are hermits, Barsanuphius has sealed himself into a room…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Jeroboam, Son of Nebat
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Though he is far from a household name, Jeroboam, son of Nebat is one of the most important figures in Biblical history. As the first king and founder of the independent northern kingdom of Israel, he became the paradigmatic wicked king. He is, in many way, the first schismatic and heretic in the history of God’s people. In addition to creating the northern political structures, he began an alternative religious system that would not only endure in the northern kingdom throughout its existence, but even make inroads into the southern kingdom of Judah. Under the later Omride dynasty, the kingdom which he founded would become a regional power and at least for a time far surpass the southern kingdom of…
Faith Encouraged
Made FOR Him to be LIKE Him
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Shakespeare’s Hamlet has a character named Polonius and Shakespeare has him utter those now famous words “For the apparel oft proclaims the man.” And then, of course, there’s the famous business advice “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have!” All this focus on apparel makes one wonder if men are unaware of their true selves. And that, dear one, is seen in the fervent scramble of humanity to…
The Morning Offering
The Priest
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The priest should be like a funnel If a priest is truly to be an agent for grace, he must become like a funnel through which the Lord’s mercy can flow. That a priest has received the grace of ordination, if he does not attempt to live a life of holiness, if he does not become a living sacrifice for…
Faith Encouraged
And The Evening and The Morning...
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“To everything, turn, turn, turn. There is a season, turn, turn, turn. And a time to every purpose under heaven.” The Byrds lyrics were taken, of course, from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the First Testament. It is the gift of time, granted to us by God, where our lives play out. It is also a gift of God that even our mistakes and sins have a finality so that we do…
The Morning Offering
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
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Communing from the Body and Blood of the Master during the period of spiritual combat The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is attributed to Saint Gregory the Dialogist († 604), Pope of Rome, but in actuality, it is not the work of one individual, but is a composite work coming down to us from Holy Tradition. The Liturgy of the…
Behind the Scenes
Orthodox Worship: "Now I Understand Why"
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No Other Foundation
St. Andrew's Great Canon: a Rival Voice
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Every year during Lent we invite into our churches a great pastor, St. Andrew of Crete, and listen while he leads us in a meditation on sin and repentance. That is, we listen while his Great Canon is chanted, and in response we reply over and over again, “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!” Some things in this long poetic work might strike some moderns as a bit…
Grace Here and Now
Why Lent?
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To be reminded of grace is grace itself, shorter the shadows fall. Illumination now is lit, and lighter is heavy life, yet like lace, with all its order designed to be seen through, I see and avow the bit that’s brighter – From “Lent” by Maurice Manning Why Lent? I mean what is it, besides refraining from certain foods – a laundry list of “nos”? One has to be careful not to…
Glory to God for All Things
Facing Up to God
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And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. 2 Cor. 3:18 Among the most striking of all images in St. Paul’s writing is his description of beholding the glory of God with an unveiled face. It’s a very difficult passage to translate. The word rendered “beholding” in the translation quoted above is actually…
Faith Encouraged
The Power of Logos
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“Make your words sweet. After all, you may have to eat them!” Great advice, and perfect for one who is embarking on a spiritual journey of disciplined and purposeful faith. You see, our words are icons of our hearts. That’s why paying attention to our words is part of any spiritual discipline to become the master of your passions rather than the slave of your emotions, your fears, and your desires. Watch…
Orthodox Reformed Bridge
Preparing for Lent
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The Orthodox Church prepares for Lent by observing a series of Sundays, each with a particular theme. On the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, the Orthodox faithful hear one of Jesus’ well known parables and are urged to reflect on the importance of repentance for our spiritual recovery. One way we learn the meaning of repentance is through the hymns and prayers of the Church. One especially powerful prayer sung in…
The Morning Offering
The Lenten Journey
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Transformation through the Lenten Journey The Byzantine Court was filled with sycophants, busying themselves with building alliances that would help them rise in status and influence. During the thousand years of the empire, a few emperors were tricked into believing these sycophants were truly their friends, and could be trusted, when in actuality they were being played, and these flatterers…
The Morning Offering
Forgiveness
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Forgiveness is the cure for judgment, anger, and resentment Our Lord Jesus Christ told us: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven (Luke 6:37).” In the Our Father, the very prayer given to His disciples after Christ was asked to teach them to pray, we…
Eastern Christian Insights
Wearing "The Armor of Light" Requires Forgiveness: Homily for the Sunday of Forgiveness (Cheesefare) in the Orthodox Church
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Romans 13:11-14:4; Matthew 6:14-21 When the prodigal son returned home, he was surely filthy, malnourished, and at least half-naked. The father restored him to the family by clothing him with a robe, a ring, and sandals, and then celebrated his return with a great banquet. As we prepare to begin the Lenten journey tomorrow, we recall today how Adam and Eve stripped themselves naked of the divine…
