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Saving A Democratic Man
Read more: Saving A Democratic ManEverywhere he goes, he meets his equals. All of the world is open to him, bidding him enter in, take what he wants and go his way. Early on he learns to negotiate his way through competing crowds of others, jostling for position, asking for attention, making his way forward. His direction is a matter […]
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A Lesser Atonement
Read more: A Lesser AtonementIt has long been known that people tend to see what they think they are seeing. This is particularly the case where what we think is familiar and expected. The case of “mistaken identity” flows from our assumptions and expectations. This is no where more true than when we are reading Scripture. If a passage […]
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Our Conciliar Salvation
Read more: Our Conciliar SalvationI consider it both a strange mystery and a settled matter of the faith that God prefers not to do things alone. Repeatedly, He acts in a manner that involves the actions of others when, it would seem, He could have acted alone. Why would God reveal His Word to the world through the agency […]
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Come Join Me for a Retreat in San Francisco
Read more: Come Join Me for a Retreat in San FranciscoI will be speaking at the Lenten Retreat in San Francisco at Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral this coming weekend. My topic will be “Running on Empty in the Abundant Life.” I am greatly looking forward to meeting the faithful in the Bay Area and participating in the life of one of the great […]
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Superstition and the Material God
Read more: Superstition and the Material GodPeople gather at the end of Church for a “travel blessing.” A priest chants a prayer and sprinkles water over them with a brush. They cross themselves and have some sense that their travels will now be better. Many modern people watching this procedure would describe the process as “superstitious.” It appears to them that […]
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Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko – Memory Eternal!
Read more: Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko – Memory Eternal!The Protopresbyter, Fr. Thomas Hopko, has fallen asleep in the Lord. His life and impact on the Church in the modern world cannot be exaggerated. He was a pastor, a scholar, a teacher, mentor and friend to several generations of priests. He will be missed more than words can say. I first met him in […]
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Should I Forgive the Unrepentant?
Read more: Should I Forgive the Unrepentant?It has been noted that forgiveness is often directly tied to repentance. This is doubtless true, but also fraught with misunderstanding. It is important to understand what forgiveness is and is not and what repentance is and is not. The heart is filled with twists and turns – understanding is helpful at every moment. “Without […]
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Can You Forgive Someone Else’s Enemies?
Read more: Can You Forgive Someone Else’s Enemies?I have written from time to time about the concept expressed in Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov, “Forgive everyone for everything.” It is a quote taken from the fictional Elder Zosima, but it is certainly a sentiment well within the bounds of Orthodox thought. I have recently been challenged in several places by people arguing that we […]
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The Disenchanted World
Read more: The Disenchanted WorldA very apt word for the world we live in is: disenchanted. It was first used by Max Weber and a number of others to describe a certain aspect of the modern world – the absence of the sacred. Where people of earlier eras and other cultures have experienced the world around them as charged […]
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The Problem with Going to Heaven
Read more: The Problem with Going to Heaven“That man might become God…” On its surface this statement simply sounds blasphemous. Interpreted in a wrong manner, it would be worse than blasphemous. When read correctly, however, it is the very essence of salvation itself. “To go to heaven…” from my childhood this phrase has been used as the goal of a Christian life. But, […]
My 2cents: AI is notorious for its hallucinations. (Google your name using AI and find out all kinds of things…