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Daily Meditations

Members of One Another (Part VII): Adam, Our Father

02/14/2019

St Silouan’s consuming desire for the salvation of all stands out in yet sharper relief when we take into account his teaching about what may be termed the ‘total Adam’. This is not, I think, a phrase that he himself employs, but it accurately sums up his point of view. For St Silouan, Adam is ‘our father’, the ‘father of all mankind’. Following St Paul (1 Corinthians 15:22, 45), the Starets sees Adam the first-formed

Spirituality from Below (Part II)

02/13/2019

The following remark has been attributed to Anthony: “If you see that a young man is striving for heaven with his own will, grasp his feet and drag him down; for it will do him no good.” It makes no sense for young people to meditate too early on, to take the path to mysticism too soon. First they have to come to terms with their own reality. They have to take a good look

Persons in Communion: Singular and plural (Part I)

02/12/2019

Personal existence has a ‘vertical’ dimension, a desire to be plunged into the fullness of God. And this fullness is not a solitude but an ocean already alive with the movement of infinite love. The depth is not unrelieved gloom; it contains reciprocal activity, interchange, the presence of the other, while duality is avoided in the communion of the Three in One. The depth itself suggests the inexhaustible character of the Persons and of their

The Apostle Paul: Begin with Gratitude

02/11/2019

Philippians is probably my favorite of Paul’s letters because it describes how we need to work with the rebellious, angry, and dualistic mind. Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians during one of his many imprisonments. He even mentioned being “in chains,” and yet ironically this is the most positive and joy-filled of all of his letters. In a most succinct and perfect summary, Paul says that you should “Pray with gratitude, and the peace

St. Theodore the General and Great Martyr

02/08/2019

St. Theodore lived during the reign of emperor Licinius (c. 320 AD). He was born in Euphraita of Galatia (central Turkey), but spent most of his life in the city of Heraklia, near the Black Sea. He surpassed most of his contemporaries in spiritual matters, bodily beauty, and eloquence of speech. Consequently, he won the admiration of many, including that of emperor Licinius, who appointed St. Theodore the chief commander of the area. St. Theodore

Members of one another (Part VI)

02/07/2019

In the monk’s relationship with the world, St Silouan distinguishes a double movement. First, through prayer the monk withdraws into himself, shutting out the world, gradually liberating himself from visual imagery and discursive thinking, and so entering into the image-free stillness of the heart. But then, within the depths of his own heart, he rediscovers his solidarity with all humankind and with the whole creation. So the monk’s flight from the world turns out to

Spirituality from Below (Part I)

02/06/2019

The spirituality bequeathed to us by the moralizing theology of modern times works from the top down. It presents high ideals that we are supposed to translate into reality. Typical ideals include selflessness, self-control, continuous amiability, selfless love, freedom from anger, and mastery of sexual desire. Spirituality from above surely has some positive meaning for young people, since it challenges them and tests their powers. It prompts them to grow up and out of themselves

Death and Humility

02/05/2019

A pilgrim to the Holy Mountain of Athos asked an old hermit, “Father, how can I attain my salvation?” The venerated holy man replied, “Every day at dusk go to the cemetery and for an hour hurl insults to the dead. Do that for a month and pay attention to everything that happens around you. Then come and report to me.” After a month the pilgrim returned. “Father, I have done what you told me

The Apostle Paul. Paul’s Conversion Experience

02/04/2019

All of Paul’s major themes are contained in seed form in his conversion experience, of which there are three descriptions in Acts written by Luke (chapters 9, 22, and 26). Paul’s own account is in the first chapter of Galatians: “The Gospel which I preach . . . came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:11-12). Paul never doubts this revelation. The Christ that he met was not the Christ in the flesh (Jesus); it

Presentation of Christ in the Temple

02/02/2019

A Homily on the Presentation of Christ in the Temple By a Parish Priest of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America From time immemorial, the human race had worshipped through the offering of sacrifices as an expression of fear. Bulls and goats were laid upon altars, offerings of grain and libations of wine were poured out by trembling supplicants before the powers of divinity. These offerings were but a percentage of their possessions, a mere

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