Daily Meditations Archives - Page 258 of 348

Human Beings and the Cosmos (Part VIII): The Biblical Revelation, Foundation of Technology

07/30/2015

The real difficulty with modern technology is not technical but spiritual; what would humankind or nature need to be like, to feel at home in this ‘wild revolution’, as Edgar Morin called it? Left to itself, technical progress becomes the tool of the rich and powerful in their struggle for profit and mastery, while the real need, that hunger for bread and for truth to which we keep referring, is ignored. What we lack, in

Keeping our Faces in a Facebook World (Part II)

07/29/2015

By Father Lawrence Farley The truth is that real communication and authentic communion with another always involves face to face encounter—that is why there is so much hugging at airports when people are physically reunited after being separated for a time. Did those people who greet each other at the airport not keep in touch by Facebook while they were gone? Did they not phone each other? Did they not exchange e-mails? I’ll bet they

Keeping our Faces in a Facebook World (Part I)

07/28/2015

By Father Lawrence Farley We live in a Facebook world—that is, in a world characterized by the presence of what has come to be called “social media.” Much ink has been spilled describing this revolutionary new phenomenon, some people lauding it, and some lamenting it. But whether it is laudable or lamentable or some combination of both, it seems to be here to stay. For good or ill, much of our communication is now done

Greatmartyr and Healer Panteleimon

07/27/2015

The Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon was born in the city of Nicomedia into the family of the illustrious pagan Eustorgius, and he was named Pantoleon. His mother St Euboula (March 30) was a Christian. She wanted to raise her son in the Christian Faith, but she died when the future martyr was just a young child. His father sent Pantoleon to a pagan school, after which the young man studied medicine at Nicomedia under

Heaven and Hell in the Scriptures

07/24/2015

Recently, Anglican bishop and theologian N.T. Wright was interviewed on the Evangelical Protestant show “100 Huntley Street”, speaking about heaven and hell. As might be expected from someone of Wright’s stature, he was articulate, fascinating, and Biblical. He prefaced his brief remarks by saying that one day he was sitting in the Sistine Chapel facing an immense image of the Last Judgment, in which souls were departing after the Judgment and either ascending to heaven

Human Beings and the Cosmos (Part VII): Church and Cosmos (Part II)

07/23/2015

The spiritual discipline and mysticism of the early Church, which have come down to us chiefly through the Eastern .tradition, amount to a veritable ‘physics of the glorious body’. The body, being flooded with light, then illuminates the surrounding cosmos to which it is inseparably joined. Solovyev writes that by the act of descending to the roots of life, and crucifying the cosmic eros in order to transform it into a regenerating force, ‘we release

Saint Mary Magdalene the Myrrh-Bearer and Equal-to-the-Apostles

07/22/2015

Mary Magdalene was one of the myrrh-bearing women and “equal to the apostles”. She was born in the town of Magdala along the shore of Lake Gennesaret and was from the tribe of Issachar. She was tormented by seven evil spirits from which the Lord Jesus freed her and made her whole. She was a faithful follower and servant of the Lord during His earthly life. Mary Magdalene stood beneath the Cross on Golgotha and

Dealing with Our Passions (Part IV)

07/21/2015

A woman whose husband was an alcoholic had feelings of hatred toward him; she even thought of killing him. She accused herself of being thoroughly evil for even thinking such things. This happens to many people who blame themselves for their negative thoughts. The monks are more compassionate on this score. They say that the thought isn’t evil; it has a meaning. I just have to find the strength that lies within it. In the

Holy, Glorious Prophet Elias

07/20/2015

The Holy Prophet Elias is one of the greatest of the prophets and the first dedicated to virginity in the Old Testament. He was born in Tishba of Gilead into the Levite tribe 900 years before the Incarnation of the Word of God. St Epiphanius of Cyprus gives the following account about the birth of the Prophet Elias: “When Elias was born, his father Sobach saw in a vision angels of God around him. They

Wisdom and the Constancy of Light: Sermon on Psalm 103 (Vespers)

07/17/2015

By Father Matthew Baker As we give blessing to God for the end of one day and the beginning of another, the words of Psalm 103 in our Vespers service bid us turn our thoughts to the Lord’s work in creating the world. 1. How magnified are thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou made them all (Ps. 103:26). The whole creation, the Psalmist tells us, has been fashioned “in wisdom.” The great multitude of