Daily Meditations Archives - Page 60 of 333

People as Liturgical Beings, Part 2

06/08/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, October 23, 2014 By Abbot George Kapsanis of Gregoriou People who offer ‘your own from your own, in all things and for all things’ serve God truly and pleasingly. That is, people who recognize that whatever they have is a gift from God. They believe that they’ve got nothing of their own to offer. Everything’s from God and they take from that and offer it to God, together with themselves, their world

People as Liturgical Beings, Part 1

06/07/2022

Published by Pemptousia Partnership, October 23, 2014 By Abbot George Kapsanis of Gregoriou We usually characterize people as rational and independent beings. These attributes are correct enough, but don’t convey human nature in its completeness. Through the liturgical experience, we feel that, more than anything, people are liturgical beings. They were made to serve, to offer themselves and the whole world to God with gratitude, praise and worship, to unite with God, to be sanctified,

A Deadly Communion

06/06/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 16, 2017 Habits are hard things to break. I quit smoking almost 30 years ago (cold turkey). It was more than difficult and came only after many failed attempts. But, in many ways, such a habit is among the easier to deal with. Far more difficult, and far more deadly, are the habitual patterns of human interaction that mark our lives. They are the single most important source of anxiety,

The Secular Mind versus the Whole Heart

06/03/2022

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 19, 2016 Thinking is among the most misleading things in the modern world, or, to be more precise, thinking about thinking is misleading. For a culture that puts such a great emphasis on materiality, our thinking about thought is decidedly spooky. The philosophy underlying our strangely-constructed modernity is called nominalism (of which there are many formal varieties). It’s imaginary construct of the world consists of decidedly separate objects, united only by our

Through Your Glorious Ascension

06/02/2022

By Fr. John Breck, June 1, 2005 Psalm 67/68 is considered by most biblical scholars to be the most difficult of all psalms to interpret.[1] The current consensus holds that the psalm was an ancient cultic hymn, originally recited in an autumn festival by the covenant-community of Israel. Its theme celebrates the coming of God to His people, from Sinai to Zion, in order to actualize in their midst His past mighty works of salvation. This

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Apodosis, or Leave-taking, of Pascha

06/01/2022

Today is the last day of Pascha for Christians of the Byzantine tradition. Each major feast on the Church calendar has an Apodosis that comes, normally, at the end of the octave. The hymns for Matins, the hours, Vespers, Compline, and the Divine Liturgy are repeated as on the first day of the feast. For Pascha, however, the Leave-Taking is on the vigil of the Ascension, but, with the exception of the changed lectionary, the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Tuesday of Pascha: From the Depths of Hell

05/31/2022

By Fr John Breck, April 1, 2009 The final Old Testament reading for Holy Saturday vespers—Daniel 3:1-57, the story of the three young men in the fiery furnace in Babylon—is composite, drawing upon both Aramaic and Greek (Septuagint) traditions. The latter modifies and amplifies a detail the Church’s patristic witnesses consider essential. That small detail is a typological image that announces the primary theme of Orthodox Pascha or Easter: the descent of Christ into the

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Sixth Monday of Pascha: Memorial Day Statement of the Council of Bishops of the UOC of the USA

05/30/2022

This weekend our nation observes Memorial Day – a date on the civil calendar when the nation does (and should) honor the men and women who have given their lives in defense of our nation – of us – during their tours of service in the various branches of our USA Armed Forces. They have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. They have died so that the world might be

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fifth Thursday of Pascha: No Walls

05/26/2022

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 9, 2021 Faith. Deep and true faith means being open to what the truth turns out to be as we grow and learn and come more fully to understand. We come to know most fully through an experience of the Living God just like so many did when encountering the Crucified One risen from the dead. In the journey of faith we must be willing to

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Fifth Wednesday of Pascha. Judas Iscariot: Hero or Betrayer?

05/25/2022

By Fr John Breck, May 1, 2007 Since the recent publication and popularization of the Gospel of Judas, it has been fashionable to look on this disciple either as a victim of circumstance or as a hero, blessed by Jesus to set the stage for His condemnation. Aside from resting on bad exegesis, this interpretation ignores a basic truth about Jesus’ incarnation and His saving death. The so-called Gospel of Judas burst on the popular scene over