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Daily Meditations

Seventeenth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Why Did He Come? (Part IV)

12/01/2015

Meditation: Why Did He Come? Christmas means that “the Word (the Eternal God) was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  In an attempt to capture the monumental humiliation God endured when He took on human flesh, C.S. Lewis likens it to our becoming a worm. Yet God did that for us in order to communicate His love to us. Christmas means that Emmanuel has come: God is not

Sixthteenth Day of Christmas Advent, Apostle Andrew, the Holy and All-Praised First-Called

11/30/2015

The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was the first of the Apostles to follow Christ, and he later brought his own brother, the holy Apostle Peter, to Christ (John 1:35-42). The future apostle was from Bethsaida, and from his youth he turned with all his soul to God. He did not enter into marriage, and he worked with his brother as a fisherman. When the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John began to preach, St

Thirteenth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Why Did He Come? (Part III)

11/27/2015

Meditation: Why Did He Come? Jesus himself explains why He came: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5: 17). “I come not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt 9; 13). “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). “I have come as light into the world, that whoever

Twelfth Day of Christmas Advent, “O Give Thanks unto the Lord!”

11/26/2015

By Father Steven Kostoff “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever!”  (Psalm 136:1) In an article titled “A Moveable Fast,” the scholar Elyssa East summarized the history of our American Thanksgiving, and the intentions and practices of the early New England colonists toward this national feast.  Initially, she writes, Thanksgiving was built around the Christian rhythm of fasting and feasting.  Bearing that in mind, she also offered her

Eleventh Day of Christmas Advent, Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria

11/25/2015

The Holy Great Martyr Catherine was the daughter of Constus, the governor of Alexandrian Egypt during the reign of the emperor Maximian (305-313). Living in the capital, the center of Hellenistic knowledge, and possessed of a rare beauty and intellect, Catherine received an excellent education, studying the works of the greatest philosophers and teachers of antiquity. Young men from the most worthy families of the empire sought the hand of the beautiful Catherine, but she

Tenth Day of Christmas Advent, Journey to Bethlehem, Part II

11/24/2015

By Father John Parker What shall we offer Thee, O Christ, Who for our sakes hast appeared on earth as man? Every creature made by Thee offers Thee thank. The angels offer a hymn; the heavens a star; the wisemen gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; the earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger.  And we offer Thee a virgin mother.  O pre-eternal God, have mercy on us! In my last post, we began our “Journey

Ninth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Why Did He Come? (Part II)

11/23/2015

Meditation: Why Did He Come? St. Gregory of Nazianzus wrote: Darkness is loosened, light is created. The Pillar of Fire is given to Israel. Those dark in ignorance see the great light: knowledge and wisdom. Old things are finished; all is become new, the letter retreats; the Spirit prevails; shadows disappear; the truth now enters; nature’s law is overturned for heaven needs filling… What was invisible, now is distinguishable. What was untouchable now is touchable…

Sixth Day of Christmas Advent, Christmas is Already Easter

11/20/2015

In Jesus, God achieved the perfect synthesis of the divine and the human. The incarnation of Jesus demonstrates that God meets us where we are as humans. God freely and fully overcomes the gap from God’s side. The problem of redemption is already resolved once and for all, long before its dramatic illustration on the cross. Bethlehem already revealed that it was good to be a human being. For the Christian, spiritual power is always

Fifth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Why Did He Come? (Part I)

11/19/2015

Prayer Lord Jesus, You have come so many times to us and found no resting place, forgive us for our overcrowded lives, our vain haste and our preoccupation with self. Come again, O Lord, and though our hearts are a jumble of voices, and our minds overlaid with many fears, find a place however humble, where You can begin to work Your wonder as you create peace and joy within us. If in some hidden

Fourth Day of Christmas Advent, Journey to Bethlehem, Part I

11/18/2015

By Father John Parker About seven hundred years ago Andrei Rublev, or one of his disciples, painted perhaps the most memorable and beautiful icon of the Nativity of Christ. The 14th century icon is warped and cracked, but is in remarkable shape despite its age and history.  It tells us, in earthen pigments bound to the gesso plaster, the story of the birth of Jesus, each facet of the good news surrounding the Virgin Mother Mary and

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