Glory to God For All Things

April 25, 2023

Working With What We Know

I recently had a question put to me that made me think about “where we start” when we think about the things of God. The question was this: “A friend of mine who is familiar with Jewish beliefs told me that the Jewish Sheol was self-emptying. It was a purgatory-like place where people lamented and […]
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Knowledge of God, Reflections
April 20, 2023

Identity and the Resurrection of Christ

There is a strange moment described in the gospels regarding the resurrection of Christ (in fact, there are several such moments). When Mary Magdalen first encounters the risen Lord, we are told that she “took Him for the gardener.” But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into […]
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Knowledge of God, Personhood, Reflections
April 15, 2023

St. Melito and Pascha – Hell Is Not the Last Word

Among the most powerful meditations on Pascha are the writings of Melito of Sardis (ca. 190 AD). His homily, On Pascha, is both a work of genius as poetry and a powerful work of theology. Its subject is the Lord’s Pascha – particularly as an interpretation of the Old Testament. It is a common […]
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Holy Week, Pascha, Salvation
April 14, 2023

The Cross Within the Church

The Church is the Cross through history. St. Paul wrote that he had determined to restrict his preaching to the Cross. (1 Cor. 2:2) This was not an effort to diminish the gospel. Rather, it was an effort to rightly understand the gospel. One of the great temptations of Christianity is to allow itself to […]
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Church, Cross, Holy Week, Reflections
April 10, 2023

The Bridegroom and Judgment

Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse […]
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Holy Week, Last Things
April 7, 2023

The Frightful Path of Judas

I recall the first time the phrase, “On the night in which He was betrayed,” struck my heart. I was attending the evening service of Maundy Thursday at an Episcopal parish when I was a student in college. There was communion, followed by the “stripping of the altar” that symbolized the arrest and scourging of […]
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Cross, Holy Week, Pascha, Reflections
April 3, 2023

Rest for Your Soul

If…then… Among the most alluring ideas in our lives are the notions of cause and effect, performance and award. Nothing seems more soothing than the simple promise that doing one thing leads to the reward of the other. It is predictable, subject to control, clearly delineates the rules of reward and punishment and makes obvious […]
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Knowledge of God, Modernity, Personhood, Reflections, Salvation
March 30, 2023

The Limits of Holiness

I saw a commercical recently that proclaimed, “Freedom has no limits!” It sought to capture the modern imagination with what is a patently absurd statement. Everything in creation has limits – that is the nature of created things. It is nonetheless the case that we can imagine our life without limits – a shameless existence […]
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Icons, Knowledge of God, Saints
March 24, 2023

To See Him Face to Face

“The self resides in the face.” – Psychological Theorist, Sylvan Tompkins +++ There is a thread running throughout the Scriptures that can be described as a “theology of the face.” In the Old Testament we hear a frequent refrain of “before Thy face,” and similar expressions. There are prayers beseeching God not to “hide […]
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Communion, Icons, Knowledge of God, Reflections, Salvation
March 19, 2023

A Modern Lent

Few things are as difficult in the modern world as fasting. It is not simply the action of changing our eating habits that we find problematic – it’s the whole concept of fasting and what it truly entails. It comes from another world. We understand dieting – changing how we eat in order to improve […]
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Fasting, Modernity

Prayers for Michael

This doesn´t really have anything to do with the topic at hand, but I wanted to share a quick comment…

Lord Jesus Christ Son of GOd have mercy on the soul of Michael! Peace Chris S

I have long enjoyed Michael’s comments and enthusiasm. He and Merry are in my prayers. May your joy be perpetual…

ML, That is one of the kindest things anyone has ever said to me. We are doubtless shaped by our…