Category: Family

A Dowry Much Finer Than Gold

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 8 Leave a Comment on %s
I have wrtten before of my Father-in-law. Regular readers of this blog will know that he was a man of great faith whom I never knew to be less than thankful to God. The goodness of God was doubtless his greatest joy and favorite topic of conversation. He was also a man of great prayer. I found out early in my married life just how great his prayers were. In the courseā€¦

Giving Thanks Beyond Measure

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 4 Leave a Comment on %s
I have frequently had reason to ask: who’s keeping whom? When I was received into the Orthodox faith, I and the rest of my family, stood one by one before the Gospel and a hand-cross to make a solemn promise: This true faith of the Orthodox Church, which I now voluntarily confess and truly hold, that same I will firmly maintain and confess, whole and unchanged, even until my last breath, Godā€¦

How Can We Give Thanks?

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 17 Leave a Comment on %s
Everyone capable of thanksgiving is capable of salvation. Fr. Alexander Schmemann I do not believe it is possible to exhaust this topic and that there are many things worth saying in a second article. Most specifically I want to write on what seem to me necessary elements in giving thanks to God. If giving thanks to God is difficult these may be places to begin or to which to give attention. 1.ā€¦

A Few Things More

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 10 Leave a Comment on %s
It’s very easy in longer postings (such as the previous) to forget the closest things. Church is everything the Scriptures say of it, but we largely encounter Christ in a particular setting, among particular friends and family (sometimes). Thus, just as He gives Himself to us in His consecrated Body and Blood, so too, He gives Himself to us in the flesh and blood, and spirit, of the witnesses with whom weā€¦

For the Life of the World

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 1 Leave a Comment on %s
The Orthodox Ministry, Come Receive the Life, has two podcast programs on the Sanctity of Life. The first is an interview with Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green, the second is an interview with Rod Dreher of the Dallas Morning News, a relatively recent convert to Orthodoxy (I met him the week after his Chrismation), also on the topic of the Sanctity of Life. I commend both interviews to you.

Riddled with the Worm of Bad Temper

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 19 Leave a Comment on %s
We ought to be very careful to keep watch on ourselves. When a harbor is full of ships it is easy for them to run against each other, particularly if they are secretly riddled by the worm of bad temper. St. John Climacus, 4 I have seen my four living children nearly grown. The youngest turns 17 tomorrow (which is quite old as we all know). Her older sisters are in theirā€¦

Traditions and the Keeping of Family

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 10 Leave a Comment on %s
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 yearā€¦

Thanksgiving Evening – 2007 – America and Christianity

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 16 Leave a Comment on %s
My Thanksgiving over the past few years has mostly served as one of the few occasions for the gathering of extended family. Somethings are measured in these meetings – the passing of time – I am older; my parents are older – and now the children are increasingly the adults. I am beginning to assume my role as an elder (though not quite “elderly”). I’m sure many places across the world haveā€¦

The Fullness of the World to Come

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 6 Leave a Comment on %s
I am fascinated by what the Holy Tradition does with the idea of “fullness” or “fulfillment.” The Church is described as the “fullness of Him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:23). And it is not unusual for Orthodox Christians to express the meaning of Orthodoxy under the rubric of “fullness”: Orthodoxy is the “fullness of the Church.” The Scriptures do much with the concept – speaking of the “fullness of time,”ā€¦