Tag: Sacrament

“Desiring the Kingdom” in Lent: A Book Review

· Nicole M. Roccas 3 Leave a Comment on %s
If you’ve listened to the most recent episode of Time Eternal, you’ll know I’ve been reading James K. A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation during Lent. Here, I’m posting a full review of the book. To summarize, I found this a really worthwhile read. Smith comes from the Reformed tradition, but so many of his insights…

Show notes for “‘Making’ Time”

· Nicole M. Roccas
In this episode of Time Eternal, I’m with Fr. Robert Holet, host of the podcast “First Fruits of Christian Living.” We’re talking about our volition to make time in a fast-paced world of distractions. Part two of this episode will air on Fr. Robert’s podcast, so check it out! *** Did you like this podcast episode? Help Time Eternal out…

Time in the Shape of the Cross: 3 Reflections

· Nicole M. Roccas 5 Leave a Comment on %s
This morning, I received an interesting email from a reader/ listener of Time Eternal. This person had recently read Dr. Al Rossi’s book Becoming a Healing Presence. “Rossi speaks of time as cruciform (cross-shaped),” she wrote. “This idea really intrigues me, but I also feel like I don’t fully grasp what is meant by it and how I…

Adventures in Holy Water: What a leaky font taught me about sacramental reality

· Nicole M. Roccas 4 Leave a Comment on %s
Note: This essay was originally written in January 2015, after a particularly memorable Eve of Theophany.  For Orthodox families like ours, today is Theophany: the commemoration of Christ’s baptism. Liturgically, it marks the end of Christmas, and the beginning of something new—a turn from Christ’s infancy and towards His life on earth. And so, we’ll take down the lights,…

A blessed Advent! From my perfectionism to yours…

· Nicole M. Roccas
The Advent and Christmas seasons are a perfectionist’s nightmare. At no time of year do the “shoulds,” “oughts,” and “pinterests” blare more loudly in our minds than December.  As soon as you get the old holiday ornaments out of storage, the shiny new ones gleam and scream from the store shelves: Buy me! You need me to have…

Christmas Cookies for a Jehovah’s Witness

· Nicole M. Roccas 5 Leave a Comment on %s
  Addie (not her real name) is my neighbor. She lives down the hall of our apartment building. Our first real conversation happened last year. As I recall, it was Boxing Day (Dec 26). Between church and family gatherings, my husband and I had amassed more yuletide sweets than we could eat in a lifetime. I thought of…