Search results for: “church as cross”
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A Single Moment and Paradise
Read more: A Single Moment and ParadiseDuring Holy Week, one of my favorite hymns in the Church is the Wise Thief (the Exapostelarion of Holy Friday). It recalls the thief, crucified on Christ’s right hand, who repents and finds paradise “in a single moment.” It demonstrates the fullness of God’s love who would take the repentance of a single moment and […]
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Nothing but the Whole Truth
Read more: Nothing but the Whole TruthBecause Christ Himself is the Truth, we cannot have any such thing as “partial” Truth. Something or someone can be close to the Truth or moving towards the Truth – but in a proper Christian sense – only Christ is the Truth and Christ is one. And thus within Orthodoxy it becomes problematic to speak […]
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Grace and “the Inverted Pyramid”
Read more: Grace and “the Inverted Pyramid”Fr. Sophrony [Sakharov], in his book on St. Silouan, presents this theory of the “inverted pyramid.” He says that the empirical cosmic being is like a pyramid: at the top sit the powerful of the earth, who exercise dominion over the nations (cf. Matt. 20:25), and at the bottom stand the masses. But the spirit […]
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Living With A Brain
Read more: Living With A BrainFor the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Anyone who spends time listening to the spiritual struggles of other people – or spends time struggling with […]
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Myrrhbearers and the Truth
Read more: Myrrhbearers and the TruthThe second Sunday after our Lord’s Pascha is always remembered as the “Sunday of the Myrrhbearers,” when the Church remembers the women and men who cared for our Lord’s body after His death on the Cross. Joseph and Nicodemus are the two men remembered. Mary and Martha of Bethany, Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of […]
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A Stranger in a Strange Land
Read more: A Stranger in a Strange LandThe Old Testament has a very discernible type within its stories: that of the stranger in a strange land. Joseph the patriarch is such a character in Egypt. Daniel is such a character in Babylon as are the Three Young Men. To a degree, Jacob is such a character in the house of his father-in-law. […]
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More on an Orthodox Hermeneutic
Read more: More on an Orthodox HermeneuticIt is the common witness of the gospels that the disciples seemed to have no clue when it came to the death and resurrection of Christ – until after the resurrection. The classic story of this is to be found in St. Luke’s gospel: Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to […]
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God’s Great Sabbath
Read more: God’s Great SabbathOne of the most immediately puzzling passages in Genesis is in the creation story where we are told that God “rested on the Seventh (Sabbath) day.” It obviously cannot be taken in the literal sense that God needed rest. There is a deeper mystery. In the interpretation of the Christian Fathers and in the life […]
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Icons and the Heart
Read more: Icons and the HeartThe following comment was posted in response to my recent thoughts on icons: I’m interested in learning to experience more of what you describe in your experience with icons. I’ve started praying with them, but not sure “how to,” if there is a “how”. I have an icon of Christ the Pantocrator and one of […]
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Kalomiros on the 6 Days of Creation Part 1 and Part 2
Read more: Kalomiros on the 6 Days of Creation Part 1 and Part 2Kalomiros on the 6 days of Creation l. Genesis The first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, is divided into two units that are very unequal in size. The first unit is the history of creation. The second unit is the history of the Patriarchs. Because the first unit narrates what took place in the […]
Jenny, It’s wrapped in the mystery of love by which and for which He created us. Only love understands anything.