Daily Meditations

Thirty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent, COME EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US! (Part II)

We tend to engineer life more than just live it. We are all overstimulated and drowning in options. We are trained to be managers, to organize life so as to make things happen. This is what has built Western civilization. It is not all bad, but if you transfer that to the spiritual life, it is pure heresy. It doesn’t work. It is not Gospel. We might be economically rich but not usually spiritually fertile.

Visitation of His Grace Bishop Andonios of Phasiane Ordination to the Diaconate of Nikolas S. Delaveris, January 10, 2016

Visitation of His Grace Bishop Andonios of PhasianeOrdination to the Diaconate of Nikolas S. Delaveris,January 10, 2016 It is with boundless joy and fervent anticipation that we announce the visitation of His Grace, Bishop Andonios of Phasiane, Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, on the occasion of the ordination to the Diaconate of Mr. Nikolas S. Delaveris, January 10, 2016. Mr. Delaveris is holds a BA (2008) in Jazz Studies from Michigan State University, a

Visitation of the Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, DMin.

Visitation of the Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, DMin. This Christmas, Saint Sophia Cathedral warmly welcomes as main celebrant and homilist of the Divine Liturgy of the Nativity, the twenty-first president of Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC), the Reverend Christopher T. Metropulos, DMin.  Fr. Metropulos holds a BA from Hellenic College, a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and a Doctor of Ministry from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Thirty-Fourth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Gifts to Give for Christmas and Every Day

Meditation: Gifts to Give for Christmas and Every Day We Christians give gifts at Christmas in humble imitation of the Gift that God gave-His only Son, our Lord Jesus. For the Christian the emphasis is on giving, not receiving. A man told what happened to him one Christmas Eve when he was a boy, after the Christmas story had been read. After he and his brothers and sisters had opened all their presents, his father

Thirty-Third Day of Christmas Advent, Jesus was Born that He Might Die

By Hierodeacon Herman Majkrzak In many European cultures, and in America too, singing and listening to carols is a well-loved Christmas tradition. And many Orthodox communities in the West have admirably incorporated some of the best of these carols into their Nativity celebrations. Often, though, for Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, our knowledge of this rich repertoire does not extend much beyond the first couple verses of a dozen or so of the most famous carols.

Thirty-Second Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Where is Bethlehem?

Meditation: Where is Bethlehem? Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Where is Bethlehem? Did the Son of God come to be born in a tiny hamlet in far-away Palestine? Or was He born there that He might come to be born somewhere far closer? If Christmas is the time that God chose to come close to us, then Bethlehem must be somewhere very close to us. Where is Bethlehem? It is not far at

Thirty-First Day of Christmas Advent, COME EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US! (Part I)

In more ways than one, we are waiting in darkness. Isaiah prophesied Jesus’ birth, saying, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). Yet, the darkness will never totally go away. I’ve worked long enough in ministry to know that moral evil isn’t going to disappear, but the Gospel offers something much more subtle and helpful: “the light shines on the inside of the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome

Thirtieth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: You Shall Call His Name Jesus

Meditation: You Shall Call His Name Jesus The Gospel of Matthew begins with a long list of Hebrew names that give the family tree of Jesus on the human side. As we read these names some two thousand years of history pass in review. At the end of the list we find the name above every name, the name of Jesus. The procession passes through the centuries and comes to rest at Bethlehem. “Joseph, son

Twenty-Seventh Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: The Danger of Busyness

Meditation: The Danger of Busyness When God came into the world at Christmas, people didn’t have time. They were too busy. There was no room for Him in the inn. “He came unto his own, and they that were his own people received him not.” And it seems that still today we have no room. We crowd Him out with so many things, especially with our busyness. In Luke 14:16-24, the Lord Jesus tells a

Twenty-Sixth Day of Christmas Advent, Journey to Bethlehem, Part IV

By Father John Parker Our journey to Bethlehem through the images in Andrei Rublev’s Nativity finishes at the center—a center which has two foci: Mary, the Virgin Mother, and the somewhat less obvious (because of His size) newborn Christ (who, biblically speaking, is not “Jesus” until He is named on the 8th day—see Luke 2:21.) Mary—the Theotokos, or God-bearer, as she is known in the Church—is the most noticeable figure in the icon.  One’s eyes