It’s an old question: Who are funerals for — the living or the departed? If I had to give a quick answer, I would say that funerals are for all concerned, including the departed (in many Christian traditions, we are praying for the departed). But in terms of their impact “on the ground,” they are probably mostly for the (earthly) living. But the bigger…
Today, I came across a meme image on Facebook showing a man walking out of church and featuring the following statement: Your most significant witness is how you treat others after the worship service ends. I’ve seen this sentiment before. The idea here is that, while worship is important, its true purpose is to equip or inspire believers to go out and bring Christ…
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, May 10, 2015 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is risen! In this beautiful story appointed to be read on the Fifth Sunday of Pascha, the conversion of the Samaritan Woman by the Lord Jesus—who is later known to the Church…
I’m off to Philadelphia for much of the day today to give a couple of talks at one of the churches there, so I thought I would leave you with this today, the synaxarion for the Saturday of the Akathist, the Fifth Saturday of Lent, which is today: On the fifth Saturday of the Great Fast, we celebrate the praise of our Most-holy Lady,…
We now come to the part of Lent where we begin to say farewell to various services that have accompanied us on the journey. Today is the Fifth Friday of Lent. In the practice of my archdiocese, we celebrate the Small Compline service with the Akathist Hymn on the first five Fridays of Lent. On the first four, the akathist is divided into quarters,…