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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, […]
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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 God […]
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Forgiving What We Do Not Know
Read more: Forgiving What We Do Not KnowThe first service of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church is “Forgiveness Vespers,” served on the eve of Monday of the First Week. There is nothing unusual about the service itself – other than the “rite of forgiveness” appended to it. In this, the priest and the faithful ask forgiveness of one another. Often this […]
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Singing the Lord’s Song
Read more: Singing the Lord’s SongI have been attending a conference and traveling this week and have not had time to write. I offer here a reprint of an article that is a personal favorite. It is frustrating for me that the article is so short – simply because I have a deep sense that the topic could be so […]
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Praying for you, Dee! May God hold you close.
Father, I so appreciate your words. I’ve been suffering a lot over the last night and today. It helps to…
Mark, I think “responsible for” does not quite get at his meaning. It’s not that he’s saying that I must…
Father Stephen, [quote]The character, Father Zossima, in The Brothers Karamazov, teaches that “each man is guilty of the sins of…
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