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Daily Meditations

The Hidden Gospel

07/19/2021

By Stephen Freeman, January 8, 2016  There is a genre of Scriptural writings that are described as “apocalyptic.” The book of Revelation, in Greek, is called “The Apocalypse.” Ezekiel and Daniel also have very strong passages described as apocalyptic. The term is very straightforward: it means “revealing what is hidden.” These books are described as “making known hidden things,” because their message is disguised under rather outlandish descriptions: beasts with ten horns, heavenly cities, and

Passions

07/17/2021

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: Passions “…if we would force ourselves from the start, then with continual labor we would advance little by little and perfect the virtues with ease; because seeing that we are forcing ourselves, God gives us help. And so let us force ourselves, let us make a good beginning, let us fervently desire the good; for although we have not yet attained perfection,

From the Beginning – True Authorial Intent

07/16/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 5, 2016  I read a discussion concerning my earlier article on allegory in which someone identified himself as a writer. He stated that if a reader saw something in his writing that he had not intended, then either he or his reader had failed. His statement is an extreme example of what is called “authorial intent”: what the author intends for the reader to see is indeed what the reader

Julitta & Cyricus, Martyrs

07/15/2021

Julitta had known that eventually she would be recognized–one of the costs associated with influence and power was the loss of anonymity. Julitta had anticipated that the potential gain offered to the “good” citizens of Rome would prove too enticing for some poor soul and that, eventually, somebody would turn her over to the authorities as a Christian and a traitor to Rome. Diocletian’s campaign against Christians was a popular one among those who sought

Unknowing: Dying by Brightness

07/14/2021

I die by brightness and the Holy Spirit. —Thomas Merton (1915-1968) [1] For most of us, growth is a long process of being drawn “by brightness and the Holy Spirit,” as Merton says. I interpret this brightness as being overwhelmed and undone by Immense Mystery and Goodness. Yet the Holy Spirit leads and must direct this undoing. We cannot take control, and this is our “dying” as we have to gradually let go of our need for control,

Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel

07/13/2021

Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel: The Archangel Gabriel was chosen by the Lord to announce to the Virgin Mary about the Incarnation of the Son of God from Her, to the great rejoicing of all mankind. Therefore, on the day after the Feast of the Annunciation, the day on which the All-Pure Virgin is glorified, we give thanks to the Lord and we venerate His messenger Gabriel, who contributed to the mystery of our

Reading Beneath the Words

07/12/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 3, 2016  The relationship between Old and New Testaments is much less straightforward than most people realize. A majority of Christians, particularly in our contemporary world, probably assume that their relationship is mostly historical, that the Old Testament is about things that happened before Christ while the New Testament speaks of Christ Himself and things that come later. That is “sort of” true, but not the real story. The New

The Way of Shame and the Way of Thanksgiving

07/09/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, December 19, 2015  The language of “self-emptying” can have a sort of Buddhist ring. It sounds as we are referencing a move towards becoming a vessel without content – the non-self. Given our multicultural world, such a reference is understandable. It is, however, unfortunate and requires that we visit the true nature of Christian self-emptying. Our self-emptying is deeply tied to shame and the Crucified Christ. As a touchstone, I cite

Saint Paisios, +July 12, 1994

07/08/2021

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week: Saint Paisios, +July 12, 1994 “In every generation God raises up saints, holy men and women whose work especially in this worldly age is to remind us, to show us that there is more to life than the material world around us. Some saints do it by living ordinary lives for God, while others live very extraordinary lives for God. Saint Paisios of

Greatmartyr Procopius of Caesarea, in Palestine

07/08/2021

The Holy Great Martyr Procopius, in the world Neanius, a native of Jerusalem, lived and suffered during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284-305). His father, an eminent Roman by the name of Christopher, was a Christian, but the mother of the saint, Theodosia, remained a pagan. He was early deprived of his father, and the young child was raised by his mother. Having received an excellent secular education, he was introduced to Diocletian in

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