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…
Raising Saints
Triumph of Orthodoxy
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This Sunday will be the first Sunday of Great Lent, on which we celebrate the Triumph of Orthodoxy. In our parish and in parishes around the world, we will process with icons held high, celebrating together the rightful return of icons to the church so many years ago. As you know, icons were removed from our churches in the 8th century, and then fully restored in the 9th century. The Sunday of…
Faith Encouraged
Clean Wednesday - Let Us Walk In The Light of the Lord
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Let’s face it, we had it great in Paradise! It was the perfect place to get to know God and each other. It was set up specifically for that purpose. But, alas, we had to leave that paradise because of the mortal danger of eating from the Tree of Life unprepared and enslaved to our rebellion. God, in His infinite love for us put us away from that danger until He came…
The Morning Offering
Why Attend Church?
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Can’t God’s temple be duplicated at home? Over the years I have met people who have chosen not to join a church, choosing, rather, to “worship” at home. Some have convinced themselves church is a waste of time, and feel they can be close to God while staying home on a Sunday morning. Others believe none of the churches teach…
Time Eternal
When Shall We Be Joyous? #TemporalTuesdays
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Faith Encouraged
Clean Tuesday - Faithfulness Vs. Unfaithfulness
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The Holy Scriptures have some basic meta-narratives that are consistent throughout the scriptures. One of these meta narratives is faithfulness vs. unfaithfulness. From Eden through the Nation of Israel and the Prophets and the kings right up to the Battle of Armageddon, those who are faithful to God and those who are unfaithful have very different ends. And it is this contrast that we are invited to confront in our Lenten journey…
The Morning Offering
Elder Pavlos of Sinai
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Geronta Pavlos of Sinai falls asleep in the Lord I received the following email this morning from Sister Joanna, the nun who accompanied the Elder on his visit to our monastery, back in May of 2012: We rejoice in the knowledge that holy Geronta Pavlos of Sinai, having reposed in the Lord, now enjoys the reward of the enormous martyrdom…
The Whole Counsel Blog
The Promises to Abraham
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The promises made to Abraham form the basis for the entire Biblical understanding of salvation. In addition to his name, Yahweh, God identifies himself throughout as the “God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.” This is clear even to a very casual reader of the Scriptures. Nonetheless, if asked what the promises to Abraham were, most even educated Christians would speak of the promise that Abraham would have a great many descendants and those descendants would live on a particular piece of land in Palestine. The New Testament in general and St. Paul in particular, however, speak of the promises to Abraham as the beginning of the promise of salvation fulfilled in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle…
Time Eternal
In Anger We Trust? Repentance in the Age of Rage
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It’s been over a month, and I’m still reeling from a comment I read on social media in January. Since yesterday was Forgiveness Sunday, signaling that we have now entered into Lent proper, I’m reflecting on how that single comment has shaped my attitude toward anger and reconciliation. It all started with a meme. What the meme actually…
Behind the Scenes
Facing Forward: Who Is This Conference For?
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Faith Encouraged
Clean Monday - What Our Hearts Truly Hunger For!
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“Vain repetition, that’s all it is!” My friend was absolutely horrified by my shift from my Pentecostal roots to the Greek Orthodox Church. He came to a service where I was presiding as priest and he simply shook his head in disbelief. “How could you do this?” he wondered to me afterwards. All the ritual and read prayers and prescribed movements were seen by him as nothing more that the empty “traditions”…
The Morning Offering
Fasting?
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Why should we keep the Lenten Fast? Fasting is clearly not optional, as Christ said, regarding fasting, “When you fast…” (Matt. 6:16), rather than “if you fast…”. The Lord, when speaking of His disciples, said that when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, they shall fast. When His disciples reported to Him that they had been unable to cast out…
No Other Foundation
Moses and the Ten Words
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Recently I read an interesting critique of American Christianity. It pointed out that in an earlier day the schoolrooms for our children used to feature the Ten Commandments written on the wall, rather than (for example) the Beatitudes. The author thought this rather odd for a Christian nation, and evidence that something was wrong. I grant you that the preference for the Ten Commandments over the Beatitudes does invite comment. One begins…
Eastern Christian Insights
Forgiveness and the Journey Back to Paradise in Lent: Homily for the Sunday of Forgiveness (Cheese Fare) in the Orthodox Church
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Romans 13:11-14:4; Matthew 6:14-21 As we prepare to begin our Lenten journey tomorrow, we remember today how Adam and Eve stripped themselves naked of the divine glory and were cast out of Paradise into a world enslaved by death. They used God’s great blessings to fulfill their self-centered desires, and made themselves miserable as a result. The murder of their son by Abel by his brother Cain provides a vivid portrait…
The Morning Offering
Forgiveness and Love
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The capacity to forgive and the capacity to love The capacity to forgive is directly related to the capacity to love, and it is in our act of forgiving others, that we find forgiveness. For it is in the turning away from our own self-concern, and our own self-will, that we begin to see that our salvation is directly linked…
Glory to God for All Things
Forgiveness - The Hardest Love of All
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I cannot think that any of my readers is a stranger to forgiveness, either the need to be forgiven or the need to forgive. The need to forgive, according to the commandment of Christ, extends well beyond those who ask for our forgiveness: we are commanded to forgive our enemies – whom I presume would rarely want to ask for our forgiveness. Of course, our experience of those who are truly enemies…
The Morning Offering
Cruel Friends
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They drive me to the cave of God’s mercy Because we are all created in God’s image and likeness, we are responsible for the way we impact others. Often by our very existence we are a source of great irritation and anxiety for other people. The only way we can change that is by loving them, and praying for them.…
A Light So Lovely
Introducing: In a Certain Kingdom (teaser)
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You may have heard me speak (a lot) about the power of stories to effect change and to inspire a good life. Well, I’m going to show you exactly how that’s true in a new podcast from Ancient Faith Radio. Introducing: In a Certain Kingdom! In it, I will retell famous and not-so-famous Slavic fairy tales, and I’ll share not only my love for them, but how they help us see the…
Father Bill's Blog
169. What does the Orthodox Church teach about the Afterlife? Part Two
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Last week we looked at what the Holy Scriptures have to say about the End, and then we looked at Roman Catholic and Protestant teachings about the immediate Afterlife in light of Orthodoxy. Before we proceed, I think something should be made more clear about Heaven and Hell. Do we Orthodox see Hell as God’s punishment? No. No more than Heaven is reward. At least not in the sense that God looks at…
Walking an Ancient Path
Traveling the HOV Lane during Lent
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I still remember clearly that feeling from 12 years ago, as I was driving on I-25 through Denver. Easter was on the horizon, and I wanted to do something about it. My church didn’t really observe liturgical seasons, and I knew nothing about Orthodox Christianity. (Isn’t that an Eastern European form of Catholicism?) Yet I still had a strong urge to observe Lent in some way. The problem was, I didn’t know…
Faith Encouraged
The Fast Is A Feast!
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Our Orthodox Christian calendar revolves around Pascha, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, it isn’t just our calendar, but our entire theology revolves around the Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus Christ conquering mortality is the public proclamation of our Christian Faith. So, how do we celebrate the Resurrection? Well, first we prepare to celebrate this Cosmos Changing event! We Fast! Not just from food. That’s just the elementary part…
The Morning Offering
Great Lent
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The journey of joyful sorrow in expectation of the Resurrection The main reason Christianity spread so rapidly following the Resurrection of Christ, was the power behind the resurrection. The truth of Christ’s resurrection empowered believers to joyfully embrace martyrdom, knowing that they would be joined in eternal bliss with their resurrected Saviour. Although their martyrdom would involve both mental and…
Faith Encouraged
Pray For Your Enemies
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So much conflict today is based on nothing more than finding out that someone agrees with someone else you disagree with! The friend of my enemy is my enemy. But what if all the conflicts in the world could be solved by admitting that the Source of all conflict FIRST starts within each of us? What if outward conflict is merely a reflection of our inner conflict? Just look at our Lesson…
The Morning Offering
The Lenten Journey
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Transformation through the Lenten Jouney 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…
Faith Encouraged
The Grapes Are Ripe!
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“It’s in your tone.” My tone, what does that mean? We were discussing some heavy issue and the conversation had, indeed, turned toward the heart of the matter. I guess my voice and facial expression began to match the seriousness of my words, and she noticed it right away. That’s when the “tone” comment surfaced. My “tone” had changed to match the seriousness of the topic. It is absolutely amazing to me…
The Morning Offering
Repentance
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Our struggle for repentance In our struggle on the path to God, repentance must be the central theme. Only in repentance will we find the true meaning of life, for only in repentance can one enter into communion with God. This life has been given to us for one purpose, that we might be deified, and be united with God,…
The Whole Counsel Blog
Cain, the Sinner
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As has been previously discussed on this blog, Genesis 1-11 narrates three “falls.” There are three distinct times described when human persons joined with spiritual beings in rebellion against God. The first of these, in Genesis 3, led to the devil being cast into the underworld and humanity’s expulsion from Paradise, the presence of God. Through Adam’s sin, death laid claim to the human race. The second rebellion is described in Genesis 4-6. Cain and his descendants join with rebellious angelic powers to bring sin and corruption into the world, culminating in acts of demonic sexual immorality which produced clans of gigantic tyrants. This resulted in the cleansing of the world by the waters of the flood. Finally, humanity’s sin…
