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Image and Likeness: We Were Made by Love to Love

God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness.” —Genesis 1:26 My dear people, we are already children of God; what we will be in the future has not yet been fully revealed, and all I do know is that we shall be like God. —1 John 3:2 The Judeo-Christian creation story says that we were created in the very “image and likeness” of God—who is Infinite Love flowing between Three, making unity out of clear diversity. (Picture

Begotten of the Father

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 27, 2015  No revelation is more central to the Christian faith than God as Father. Some might immediately respond that the Trinity should be seen as the central revelation. But, in Orthodox understanding, the Trinity has its source (πηγή) in the Father.  We should understand this not only as a matter of Trinitarian thought, but as the proper grounding of the spiritual life as well. To be a Christian in the proper sense, to

SPIRITUAL READING DURING QUARANTINE SUMMER

______________________________________________________________________________ SPIRITUAL READING DURING QUARANTINE SUMMER VOLUME ONE VOLUME TWO VOLUME THREE VOLUME FOUR ______________________________________________________________________________  

If the threat of coronavirus has made you think about your own mortality, you are not alone. What is this temporal life for? Our eternal salvation! What things are important in this life for that end? We may have concentrated much of our time and energy on worldly things, but hopefully we have learned from this pandemic to concentrate more on eternal things. “Brethren, it is later than you think. Hasten, therefore, to do the work of God.” -Father Seraphim Rose

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification TOPIC OF THE WEEK: If the threat of coronavirus has made you think about your own mortality, you are not alone. What is this temporal life for? Our eternal salvation! What things are important in this life for that end? We may have concentrated much of our time and energy on worldly things, but hopefully we have learned from this pandemic to concentrate more on

No One Is Saved Alone

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 16, 2015  “If anyone falls, he falls alone. But no one is saved alone.” – Alexei Khomiakov Roughly 25 years ago I quit smoking. I never think about it now – it has become a thing of the distant past. But I can remember a period of about 10 years in which I struggled to quit. I would make up my mind, throw things away, make a clean sweep, and

Help Saint Sophia Cathedral on National eGiving Day!

Help Saint Sophia Cathedral on National eGiving Day Dearest Steward and Parishioner, The past few months have been challenging for all of us.  Despite the temporary closure of the Cathedral, not for one moment have we waned in our faith as Orthodox Christians, or in our commitment to our shared mission and ministry. June 20, 2020, is not only the first day of summer, it’s also National eGiving Day, an opportunity for you to help

Christ and Nothing (Part III)

By David Bentley Hart, October 2003 We are still at war, of course, but the situation of the Church has materially altered, and I suspect that, by comparison to the burden the First Commandment lays upon us today, the defeat of the ancient pantheon, and the elemental spirits, and the demons lurking behind them will prove to have been sublimely easy. For, as I say, we moderns believe in nothing: the nothingness of the will

Focusing On One’s Own Sins. The Corporate Life of the Church.

By Abbot Tryphon, October 10, 2019 If you are to win the battle, focus only on your own sins When we take our eyes off our own sins we focus only on the sins of the other.  As we allow their sins get our attention, we fail to struggle with the passions that keep us from the wholeness that God intended, and we move ever closer to the abyss of our own fall. Ignoring our

THE PARISH ASSEMBLY IS SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 23, 2020 at 7:00 PM

PARISH ASSEMBLY JUNE 23, 2020 * 7:00 PM AGENDA  VIRTUAL ZOOM MEETING CLICK HERE TO REGISTER A VIRTUAL MEETING LINK WILL BE EMAILED TO YOU ONCE YOU HAVE REGISTERED! Thank you   Opening Prayer Election of Meeting Chair Approval of Minutes of the November 3, 2019 Parish Assembly Treasurer’s Report 2019 Year-end Financial Statements Committee Reports  Cathedral Update  Membership  Garfield Properties  Special Events  Cathedral Ministries  Facilities Preserve and Protect Capital Projects Old/New Business Adjournment Closing

Image and Likeness: In the Beginning and the End

God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness.” —Genesis 1:26 Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. —Revelation 22:17 Centuries of Christian theology confirm that the “image” described in Genesis refers to our eternal essence in God which cannot be increased or decreased. It is the soul’s objective union with God. You (and every other created thing) begin with