Today is Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church. It is a sign of our spiritual immaturity 2,000 years after the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that we Orthodox prefer to stick to an antiquated, hopelessly out-of-sync calendar and thus pretend to have the genuine date for Easter and what comes before Easter. Total example of …
Amazed and Afraid
And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…. (Mark 10:32-45) It was a …
A sermon for times of unbelief
We are living in times of fading faith. I won’t bore you with numbers, but recent research and polling data shows a marked decrease in people who identify with church or church participation. Yet, most Americans still say they believe in God. Which of course raises the question what God they believe in. Even many who …
A cross is a creative act
Take up your cross.... is not an invitation to passivity. It is not about quietly and submissively accepting whatever hardship falls on you. Jesus was never passive. He did not just react to what was thrown at him. He lived a life of active initiative. He courted trouble! He is not telling us to accept …
The gospel in story form
A wonderful paragraph from the sermons of St. John Chrysostom that I happened to read the other day. It is actually from the first sermon in the series of 90 sermons on the Gospel of Matthew that Chrysostom preached around the year 390. It is quite extraordinary; no wonder Chrysostom is the "Golden-Mouthed". Photo of …
Trinity is not a number
The feast of Epiphany in the western churches celebrates the visit of the Magi to the new-born Jesus. Hence, it is celebrated as the revelation of Jesus to the nations. In the Orthodox Church it’s celebrated as the Baptism of Jesus Christ. Theophany = the revelation of God. The revelation of God as Trinity. Baptism …
Babies grow up. When will ‘baby Christianity’ grow up?
This year has taken a huge toll on our lives. Next to the millions who got sick, the rest of us have suffered emotionally and spiritually. We have lived in fear for ten months, and the anxiety will continue for many more months. Our sentiments of love and affection have been put on lockdown, and …
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God in a Cave
As I mentioned in a post yesterday, Orthodox icons show the birth of Christ taking place in a cave. I was surprised to come upon a fascinating passage G. K. Chesterton wrote about 100 years ago. Here it is in an abridged version published on the Plough website, one of my favorite places on the Internet …
The Mystery Revealed
The icon is by the very excellent modern Greek iconographer Georgios Kordis, which I downloaded from his website, https://kordis.gallery. It paints the traditional Orthodox iconographic representation of the Nativity: angels giving glory from heaven and announcing to the shepherds on the right, a midwife washing the infant Jesus on the bottom right, a young shepherd …
Life-Giving Fountain
It is blessed to anticipate the celebration of our Lord's Nativity. We all are making sacrifices in how we will celebrate this great holy day, but even a deadly virus cannot stop the holiness that flows from this feast into our lives. Holy, Holy, Holy - the only word that is adequate to expressing the …
Ancient Answers 