Glory to God For All Things

April 28, 2019

Christ Is Risen!

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Reflections
April 25, 2019

An Atonement of Shame

Some decades ago in my early (Anglican) priesthood, a parishioner brought a crucifix back from South America. The question for me as a priest was whether I would accept the crucifix as a gift and place it in the Church. I like crucifixes, my taste was always towards the Catholic direction. But, you have to […]
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Atonement, Cross, Holy Week, Reflections
April 22, 2019

Let’s Get Out Of This Place

The Saturday before Palm Sunday is known as Lazarus Saturday among the Orthodox, and they celebrate Christ raising him from the dead just prior to His entrance into Jerusalem (gospel of John). It is a feast that offers something of a preview of Christ’s resurrection, and a foretaste of the General Resurrection at the End of the […]
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Atonement, Cross, Hell, Holy Week, Pascha, Salvation
April 19, 2019

This Time Is That Time – Holy Week Thoughts

At the very heart of traditional Christian worship is an understanding of time. “This time is that time.” When the Jews gathered for Passover and recited the words given to them, they said, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.” Passover was not (and is not) a historical re-enactment, nor a simple memorial in which […]
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Holy Week, Modernity, Reflections, Time
April 15, 2019

With Envy and Justice for All

We use many words and concepts in our daily lives without bothering to consider their true content. In my experience, few words are less examined than “justice.” It is a word that is foundational in the modern world with deep roots in religious tradition. Most people would agree that the desire for justice is virtually […]
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Enemies, Heart, Morality, Reflections
April 9, 2019

As Lent Moves On – The Greatest Fast Awaits

As Great Lent has passed its mid-point, attention begins to move towards Holy Week itself and its very intense focus. It has been an unusual time for me, having traveled on two successive weekends to lead retreats. Travel is always disruptive, and absence from your own community creates a break in the normal continuity of […]
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Communion, Pascha, Reflections, Union with God
April 4, 2019

The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement

The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church, is dedicated to St. John Climacus, the author of the ancient work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent. It is a classic work describing “steps” within the life of the struggling ascetic. There is an icon associated with this work, picturing monastics climbing the rungs of […]
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Modernity, Morality, Reflections
March 29, 2019

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, Reflections
March 25, 2019

The Mystery, Upborne, Fulfilled

Orthodoxy has a number of “favorite” words – all of which fall outside the bounds of normal speech. Though we commonly use the word “mystery” (for example), popular speech never uses it in the manner of the Church. I cannot remember using the word “fullness,” or even “fulfilled,” in normal speech. More contemporary words have […]
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Liturgy, Mystical Theology, Reflections, The Sacraments
March 20, 2019

When Icons Became Windows

Some thirty years ago I was doing doctoral work at Duke University under Geoffrey Wainwright. I was drawn to Wainwright on account of his commitment to liturgical tradition and practice as the ground of theology. A course that became a turning point in my studies was on the nature of language in theology. Like all […]
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Icons, Knowledge of God, Orthodox Christianity, Reflections

Janine, The image of Christ the Bridegroom is quite powerful in the services of Holy Week (the Bridegroom Matins, of…

Father Stephen writes, “But, inasmuch as my knowledge of God is through the lens of Christ Crucified, I would note…

Nathan, It’s a very good example, it seems to me. Solzhenitsyn said that the line dividing good and evil runs…

Simon, I’m always loathe to say “unable” with regard to God. But, inasmuch as my knowledge of God is through…

I have six children, all still at home. Some of them have great struggles. At times, they hurt their siblings.…