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The Mystery of Holy Week and Pascha
Read more: The Mystery of Holy Week and PaschaThis past weekend, Orthodox Churches began the observation of Holy Week. The services are long and plentiful. In my parish, from Lazarus Saturday to Pascha, there will be somewhere on the order of 40 hours of services. It is a large parish effort. Most of the services have the participation of the full choir. Last […]
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Can the Middle-Class Be Saved?
Read more: Can the Middle-Class Be Saved?Speaking to His disciples, Christ said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mk. 10:25) Doubtless, most modern Christians take comfort from the fact that they are not rich. Over the centuries, the eyes of needles […]
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Not a Single Individual Will Be Saved
Read more: Not a Single Individual Will Be SavedPerhaps the most striking thing about human beings is that we don’t actually come into existence by ourselves. There are parents (two of them when the laws of biology are allowed to work). The parents themselves are points of contact to a much larger world of the family and the culture itself. Human beings do […]
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The Ladder of Your Daily Life
Read more: The Ladder of Your Daily LifePerhaps the most prominent ladder in our culture is the one associated with careers. It is an image of the American road to success. We begin at or near the bottom and, step by step, make our way towards the top. It is a metaphor that works well with our modern notions of hard work, […]
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The Sins of a Nation
Read more: The Sins of a NationCan a nation ever sin? If so, how can it be forgiven? The stories and prophetic writings of the Old Testament are replete with examples of national sin. There are certainly stories of God dealing with individuals, but, on the whole, His attention seems to be directed to Israel and other nations as a whole. […]
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Mystery as Reality
Read more: Mystery as RealityC.S. Lewis once discussed the question of how angels (and such things) could pass through a wall. His response was intriguing: he suggested that they could do so not because they were less substantial, but because they were more substantial. Just as a rock is more substantial than water or air, so, he posited, an angel […]
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The Mystery of “Mystery”
Read more: The Mystery of “Mystery”Few words can be more misleading to the modern ear than the Orthodox use of the word “mystery.” It’s a fine New Testament word and is (technically) the proper name for the sacraments in Orthodoxy (though we most often say ‘sacrament’ in English). Its root meaning is that of something “hidden.” In our culture’s language, […]
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Naked and Ashamed: Dealing with It
Read more: Naked and Ashamed: Dealing with ItThe Scriptures record that Adam was ashamed and hid. It’s a primal response. Shame is experienced as a burning sense of exposure and vulnerability. It begs to be clothed upon and hidden. It is possible to say that human beings have been playing “dress-up” ever since. This can be understood in a literal manner as […]
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At the Heart of Lent
Read more: At the Heart of LentYour word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You! (Ps. 119:11) Years ago, I heard a statement from an American monk: “The contemplative need go no further than his own heart to find the source of all violence in the world.” It struck me as true then and has […]
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Get Real for Lent
Read more: Get Real for LentAccording to St. Basil, God is the “only truly Existing.” Our own existence is a gift from God who is our Creator. None of us has “self-existing” life. We exist because God sustains us in existence – in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Sin is the rejection of this gift of […]
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I would also like to hear your input, Fr. Stephen, about NDE´s. Some NDE´s describe white light and an overall…
Thank you for your response, Fr. Stephen. So do you think that upon death of the body, all will experience…
Oh dear, yes Elijah not Ezekiel. I’m working on another biblical related topic. Thank you for that correction and the…
Dee, But, Moses (the Lawgiver) who most famously spoke with God on the mountain. Elijah, I think, both because God…
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Matthew, Mallory, NDE’s – it’s a bit of a mixed bag. But, I think there’s something there (not just a…