Glory to God for All Things
On the Eve of the Nativity - We Sing the Royal Hours
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Come, you faithful, let us arise and behold the divine condescension from above, made manifest for us in Bethlehem; and having cleansed our minds, let us by our lives offer virtues instead of myrrh, as we faithfully prepare the entry of the Nativity with treasures of the soul, crying, ‘In the highest, glory to God in Trinity, through whom his good pleasure has appeared among men to rescue Adam from the ancestral…
Glory to God for All Things
The Continuing Problem of Vision
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One of the most striking features of the Gospels is the frequent response of the Disciples after the resurrection of Christ: doubt. I have always been sympathetic to the doubts and hesitations that accompanied their ministry during the ministry of Christ. They are almost endearing in their inability to grasp what Christ is all about. However, the same inability to grasp things after the resurrection seems to carry with it all kinds…
Glory to God for All Things
You Can Never Be Too Kind
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When I was first assigned as lay pastor, and later, as priest for the fledgling mission in Knoxville, TN, I asked my Archbishop for advice. He had served and been a successful Orthodox missionary in the South for better than 30 years. His simple advice to me was, “I have made it a rule always to accept an invitation to speak.” His method generally followed that model. He practiced hospitality and kindness…
Glory to God for All Things
Icons Will Save the World
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Standing before the icon of Christ in the front of St. John Orthodox Church, I prepare to offer my confession at the Sacrament of Forgiveness. The Holy image of the One Who Forgives comes forth to meet me, as the father comes forth to welcome home the prodigal son in the familiar gospel passage (Luke 15:11–32). The love of Jesus pours forth from his prototype (the icon), sees the offering of my…
Glory to God for All Things
The Smallness of God - A Rewrite
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Whom have we, Lord, like you – The Great One who became small, the Wakeful who slept, The Pure One who was baptized, the Living One who died, The King who abased himself to ensure honor for all. Blessed is your honor! St. Ephrem the Syrian We draw near to the Feast of our Lord’s Nativity, and I cannot fathom the smallness of God. Things in my life loom so large and…
Glory to God for All Things
And Now For Something Completely Different - Music From the Ethiopian Orthodox
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I am barely familiar with the Ethiopian Orthodox. They are in communion with the Oriental Orthodox Churches but have a very close relationship with the Eastern Orthodox. Among the most ancient of Orthodox Churches, they are also perhaps the most unique. Ethiopian and East African culture are seen clearly in this music, although this is not the music of the liturgy. It’s religious, but I’m not sure of its position to the…
Glory to God for All Things
What Role Do the Fathers Play in the Reading of Scripture?
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It is easy from the outside to form an incorrect picture of the Orthodox interpretation of Scripture. There is actually quite a bit of variety among the Fathers when it comes to reading the Word of God. Even in the earliest centuries there were noted differences in the approach that obtained among those trained in Antioch and those trained in Alexandria, the two great centers of Christian exegesis. To a large extent,…
Glory to God for All Things
How the Orthodox Read Scripture
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The following quote is from the Christian history website maintained by Christianity Today (an evangelical source). It describes the crucial teaching role of St. Irenaeus of Lyons, an early Bishop of the Church and later a martyr, and perhaps the most articulate spokesman of Orthodox theology in the 2nd century. The article discusses Irenaeus’ refutation of the Gnostic heretics, particularly their misuse of Scripture. It sheds light on how the Church rightly divides the…
Glory to God for All Things
Traditional Byzantine Hymn of Christmas - In Arabic
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Glory to God for All Things
The Pontificator Posts Again - And It's Worth the Read
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Many of you know of my long friendship with Roman Catholic priest and blogger, Fr. Al Kimel, a.k.a. The Pontificator. I would not be writing today except through his generosity and encouragement. Earlier this year he ceased writing. But he posted an article today that I heartily commend. It makes me long for more such thoughtful and careful work from the heart on Pontifications. A quote: I do not believe God to…
Glory to God for All Things
Living in a Crowded Heaven
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There is an old joke in which some member of some religious group, dies and goes to heaven. He passes by various rooms and is told who is there. When he comes to one particular room he is told to be very quiet for he is not to disturb those in that room. When the newly deceased asks, “Why?” the response is: “They think they’re the only ones here.” You can fill…
Glory to God for All Things
Traditions and the Keeping of Family
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It would be easy to speak of families keeping traditions – we all have them – some of them silly – some of them profound. Some are inherited from generations, others develop completely independent of what has gone before. What I know, as the father of four (most now grown), is at least two things: tradition is unavoidable in the presence of children who can remember how something was done the year…
Glory to God for All Things
The Forefathers of Christ
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Among the greatest blasphemies ever constructed by humankind was that of Nazi Germany. Not satisfied with their political dominance, they also sought a religious dominance as well. The notion of an “Aryan Christ” was perhaps the depths of their theological blasphemies mirrored in their dehumanization and murder of the Jews. At many points in the past two millennia, the relationship between Christians and Jews has hit low points – with the Jews…
Glory to God for All Things
Keeping It Real
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I have mentioned in earlier posts the new work by Aristotle Papanikolaou Being with God. It is not an easy read but brings its rewards. Papanikolaou offers the first comprehensive study of the works of Met. John Zizioulas and Vladimir Lossky, two of the 20th century’s most important Orthodox theologians, and offers a very helpful analysis and comparison. I was struck by his initial summary of the common assumption of both Zizioulas…
Glory to God for All Things
Apparently the Stakes are Being Raised
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In a society marked by tragedies, it cannot be surprising that another lone gunman has let loose on a crowd (last week it was a mall, this week it was a Church and a Missions Center). More alarming was the reported “rant” that the young shooter posted on the internet in between the shooting at the Missions Center and the Church. Most of his anger was directed towards Christians, who were the…
Glory to God for All Things
If We Walk in the Light...
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Some further thoughts beyond nature… In my previous post I quoted: “For the Fathers, indeed, personhood is freedom in relation to nature: it eludes all conditioning.” Perhaps my favorite and most reliable theological “buddy” is my wife. No one has the same shared history (we’ve known each other since I was 19 – we met in prayer group) and I can think of no one with whom I’ve shared more of my…
Glory to God for All Things
Beyond Nature
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Doing a little less than light reading today, I came across the following quote: “For the Fathers, indeed, personhood is freedom in relation to nature: it eludes all conditioning.” The true person then is one that is free, not so much to do something, but from the limitations of nature. From Papanikolaou’s Being with God, pgs. 57-58) Before unpacking those two short sentences, another thought occurred to me. How many Christians, even…
Glory to God for All Things
Change of Plans
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Glory to God for All Things
A Poem
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Come, Lord Jesus, and enter these spaces profaned and yet made holy, Come and abide in us and quicken us with the Light of Thy Presence. Amen. Amen. Amen. Bread and Cup and the Hidden God made manifest, Given to the Hidden Bride manifested only as the hidden faith of broken hearts. “In the fear of God and with faith and love draw near,” the voice of God inviting yet again. To…
Glory to God for All Things
The Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos
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From the OCA Website: St Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary, was the youngest daughter of the priest Nathan from Bethlehem, descended from the tribe of Levi. She married St Joachim (September 9), who was a native of Galilee.For a long time St Anna was childless, but after twenty years, through the fervent prayer of both spouses, an angel of the Lord announced to them that they would be the parents…
Glory to God for All Things
Silent Sentinels and the Saints Among Us
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Like many, I recall my highschool years somewhat vividly. Our school was of moderate size with a personal history for most students that increased its impact. It opened in 1965 with grades 7 through 12, among the earliest accomodations in our county to the “baby boom” phenomenon. Existing schools simply could not handle the growing mass of young people. By the time I reached 9th grade, plans were made and shortly implemented…
Glory to God for All Things
St. Nikolai Velimirovich - A Saint of the Modern World
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Glory to God for All Things
The Fullness of Being
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God is not only unity – He is also the fullness of being. When man seeks life’s riches he instinctively seeks for God. Even material riches involuntarily summon forth in the soul of a religious person the idea of Providence. The infinte diversity of being in the universe likewise turns us toward God. In religious life we seek the spiritual strength that will sanctify the whole of our existence and make it…
Glory to God for All Things
A Short Post on Culture
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A short thought today on Orthodox Christianity and American culture. My intention in my recent post on this topic was not to lament the lack of Orthodox-produced culture in America, but rather to emphasize how productive of culture Orthodoxy is. It is something completely natural to Orthodox life if it is being lived in its fullness. One of the delightful qualities of life is that it only has to be lived, not…
Glory to God for All Things
St. Nicholas is for Sale
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Browsing the net can bring its surprises. The most dangerous thing in the world is to blindly type in whatever.com (meaning, “what you’re looking for” .com). Looking for things on St. Nicholas (whose feast is the 6th of December), I simply typed in saintnicholas.com and found a site which said: “Saintnicholas.com is for sale.” I know it was only referring to the internet domain – but it was an inadvertent comment on…
Glory to God for All Things
Culture and the Fullness of the Faith
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I have posted several articles recently about the relationship of the Orthodox Church to American culture – most of which have been critical of one element or another of culture. I want to look at the whole question from a different angle today. First, it has to be observed and emphasized that, wherever Orthodox Christianity has existed in anything like its proper form, it has been productive of culture and will always…
Glory to God for All Things
Who Am I?
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I ask a sensual man, “Who are you?” and he replies, “I am I,” and he thinks of his body. I ask a thinking man, “Who are you?” and he replies, “I see two sides in myself and I make my way between them, associating first with one and then the other,” and he is thinking of his instinctive and conscious soul. I ask a spiritual man, “Who are you?” and he…
