Last week I speculated why our churches - including our own here in Portland - are slowly emptying. My answer last week was two-fold: Our Orthodox Church has forgotten its purpose to be a place of healing, and people simply don’t think they need healing - or to put it more radically, they don’t …
Liturgical Healing
Φιλάνθρωπος - that is one of the words that we use to refer to Jesus in our hymnography and prayers. As a matter of fact, our terminology goes even further and we call him μόνος φιλάνθρωπος! He is the ONLY lover of humankind! So today we sang, in Tone 1: Glory to your resurrection, O …
There’s an Icon for that
Seed falling on different types of soil: a beautiful image of how the same divine grace will produce different results in different people. But is divine grace the same for everyone? Every year in October we read the Gospel parable of the sower and the seed. Not a coincidence, because October is the time …
The Wine of Compassion
In 1334 Saint Gregory Palamas experienced a vision. In the vision he was carrying a vessel overflowing with milk, but the milk then turned into the finest wine. A youth appeared and rebuked Gregory for not sharing the wine with others and reminded him of the parable of the talents (cf. Matt. 25:14–30). Palamas interpreted the vision to mean …
He is re-making us
I usually don't quote extensively from the Fathers, because I prefer to speak with my own voice. But today's Gospel reading (Luke 6:31-36) prompts me to share some powerful messages from Saints Gregory Palamas and Isaac of Syria. In Homily 45 by St. Gregory Palamas (14th century) we read: He who alone fashioned our hearts …
Ancient Answers 