Search results for: “church as cross”
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Risking Everything
Read more: Risking EverythingIn the struggle to come to the wholeness of Personhood – to become the “true self” rather than to sink into the “false self” our very existence as spiritual beings is at stake. If you read across Orthodox books that center on the issue of Personhood – a common theme becomes visible. Our fall and […]
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Between Christmas And…
Read more: Between Christmas And…The Feast of Christmas has, for many, come and gone. The eagerness of children for the day of their presents has now passed and, with it, some of their anxieties. Far from marking Christmas as “Twelve Days” (as the old English Christmas carol notes) many parts of the culture hurry forward, eager to put Christmas […]
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Formed in the Tradition
Read more: Formed in the TraditionThinking of raising Christian children (in the light of St. Silouan’s family experience), I offer these few thoughts. The Nativity season offers many opportunities for families to be guided by Holy Tradition – just as we are also swamped by the distorting demands of commercial culture. May God guard our children and keep us all […]
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You Never Pray Alone
Read more: You Never Pray AloneForgive me if this offers any offense. There is a conception of what it means to be human, rooted in Medieval thought and refined in the furnace of modernity. This conception views each person as a “free moral agent.” Each of us is a unique individual. Our choices are our own and set our path […]
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Pray About It
Read more: Pray About ItI readily acknowledge that some of what I write on this topic may be offensive to some. I ask that you read it carefully and reflectively before reacting. I will offer a scene that is common enough across America (and perhaps elsewhere), leaving the identifications blank (though they may be inferred by the reader). A […]
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The Life of Thanksgiving
Read more: The Life of ThanksgivingThis year I will make the annual pilgrimage back to South Carolina to be with family for the (American) Thanksgiving holiday. Fewer of my children will be there – a mark of the maturing of their own families and the difficulty of travel at this time of year. The year is different as well for […]
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“A Sword Will Pierce Your Soul”
Read more: “A Sword Will Pierce Your Soul”The Mother of God, while bringing the Christ child to the temple, was greeted by an elderly man, the “just and devout man,” Simeon. Taking the child into his arms he spoke the well-known prophetic words of the Nunc Dimittis, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace….” He spoke as well of the […]
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The Fullness of All Things
Read more: The Fullness of All ThingsI am fascinated by what the Holy Tradition does with the idea of “fullness” or “fulfillment.” The Church is described as the “fullness of Him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:23). And it is not unusual for Orthodox Christians to express the meaning of Orthodoxy under the rubric of “fullness”: Orthodoxy is the “fullness […]
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Now That We’ve Come to the End of the World
Read more: Now That We’ve Come to the End of the WorldAnd although in the course of their long history Christians have much too often forgotten the meaning of the cross, and enjoyed life as if “nothing had happened,” although each one of us too often takes “time off” – we know that in the world in which Christ died, “natural life” has been brought to […]
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Even If I Descend into Hell…
Read more: Even If I Descend into Hell…Charles Williams, one of C.S. Lewis’ circle of friends, once wrote a book entitled, The Descent into Hell. In it he chronicles the slow inexorable damnation of a soul. Choices made or not made – a chronicle more of spiritual ennui than of willful rebellion – it is a very sobering read. There is an […]
I agree that Fr Stephen’s words are so edifying! Even better to listen to him speak. Watching videos of him…