Daily Meditations Archives - Page 92 of 347

The Mystery of Death. Preparing for our Death.

10/14/2021

Death can be a mystery precisely because the triumph over death is not a mystery By Abbot Tryphon, December 16, 2019 As a priest and monk of the Russian Orthodox Church, I am comfortable with the mystery of death, as all Christians should be. Death can be a mystery precisely because the triumph over death is not a mystery. As the Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann wrote, “in essence, Christianity is not concerned with coming to

Thoughts on our problems and our hearts, on divisions and wholeness.

10/13/2021

Thoughts on our problems and our hearts By Michael Haldas, July 25, 2016 “There are many devotees of the idolatrous cult of technical know-how…Many tragic and deadly problems hold the world in thrall: epidemics, wars, inexcusable hunger, repression, crime, despotism, and the loss of arable land and clean water. Many of these are intractable problems that technical solutions alone cannot fix…Technology and social engineering cannot correct people who devise wickedness and scheme evil on their

The Holy of Holies

10/12/2021

The link between the Old and New Testament Temples By Abbot Tryphon, December 6, 2019 Orthodox temples have kept to the same form and function since ancient times. Using the Old Testament Temple model, Orthodox churches are divided into several courts or spaces peculiar to their function. The Holy Table, upon which is celebrated the Eucharist, is situated at the east end of the building behind the Iconostasis (icon screen). This is a continuation of

Self-Emptying Prayer

10/11/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 29, 2016 We are told that Christ “emptied Himself” in His death on the Cross (Philippians 2:5-11). Further, we are told that this self-emptying is to be the “mind” that we ourselves have. It is possible to grasp that such self-emptying can be practiced in our dealings with others when we place them above ourselves – when the “other” is our greater concern. But how is this possible in prayer?

Justice, Forgiveness and Bearing a Little Shame

10/08/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 15, 2016 This morning I read a headline in the newspaper: “We will get justice.” In the relentless cycle of the daily news, the report was of the discovery of a young woman who had been murdered. It seemed a completely appropriate response by the law officer in charge of the investigation. His words doubtless echoed the sentiments of everyone who knew the young woman. The desire for justice is

World as Sacrament

10/07/2021

The whole world is a sacrament if only we have the eyes of faith to see it By Abbot Tryphon, December 21, 2019 Some of my earliest memories are of the camping trips we would take, as a family, and pitching our tent by the idyllic lakes in Northern Idaho. We would cook over a fire, catch rainbow trout for breakfast (nothing like a freshly grilled trout). When in high school I’d join friends for

Saint Thomas the Apostle

10/06/2021

Saint Thomas the Apostle is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. He came from a family of fishermen. He is especially honored by the Church on Sunday of St. Thomas, also known as Second Sunday or Antipascha. Thomas refused to believe that the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the ten other apostles because of his absence from the first appearance of the Risen Christ. Eight days later, in the presence of Jesus Christ

The Church is Our Nation

10/05/2021

The Church’s purpose is to unite all men as one nation in Christ By Abbot Tryphon, January 16, 2020 When the Bolsheviks defeated Imperial Russia, the former government’s close ties with the Church led to the wholesale murder of countless bishops, priests, monastics, and faithful, all seen as an inseparable part of the government. The institution of the Church was seen as so closely tied to the former government, the new government sought to completely

Why We Forgive

10/04/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 14, 2016 There are many ways to think about forgiveness, not all of them true or helpful. It is easily the most emotionally and psychologically difficult aspect of the Christian life revealing both the power of trauma as well as the tenacity of lingering memories. The directness of Christ’s commandments (“forgive your enemies”) and the consequences of ignoring them (“if you do not forgive others neither will your heavenly Father

Forgiveness for All the Sundays to Come

10/01/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 10, 2016 I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; (John17:20-21) The Elder Sophrony, together with St. Silouan, wrote about the “whole Adam.” By this, they meant all the human beings who have ever existed and those yet to come. They were, for them, something known in the present tense, a “hypostatic” (the term Sophrony preferred) knowledge of the fundamental