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True Self and False Self: Our Ultimate Identity

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) developed wonderful insights into the true self and false self. James Finley, one of CAC’s core faculty members, lived and prayed with Merton for six years at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. This week Jim shares some of what he learned from this great contemplative teacher. Merton’s whole spirituality, in one way or another, pivots on the question of ultimate human identity. Merton’s message is that we are one with God.

The Sixth Wednesday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! Persons in Communion: From Individual to Person (Part I)

The Body of Christ is not only unity but interchange, by which the ‘movement of love’ of the Trinity is conveyed to humankind. This movement, in which each effaces himself in order to give, is the transition from individual to person, a growing to maturity certainly, but only achieved by means of a succession of death-and-resurrections, in the course of which we are stripped down and recreated. We become unique, escape the repetitive character of

The Fourth Friday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Paschal Gift

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 18, 2017  It is impossible to describe the joy of Pascha, particularly as I experience it as a priest. This year, I was deeply aware that I stand in a place that was both created for me, and for which I am unworthy. The joy of such a combination is the realization of the Gift. When you are trying to find a gift for someone, the most difficult part, it

The Second Friday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Hidden Soul and the Weight of Glory

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 27, 2015  From a Facebook conversation: “Though I wish I believed otherwise, in the depths of my being, I do not believe any part of us survives death. I am, at the center of my consciousness, a materialist, and a reluctant atheist still. I fight this disposition daily, and it is becoming an enormous burden that I wish I could throw off. There are days where my doubt and despair

RENEWAL TUESDAY. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! THE VICTORY OVER DEATH

CHRISTOS ANESTI!  CHRIST IS RISEN! The Resurrection of Christ was a victory, not over his death only, but over death in general. “We celebrate the death of Death, the downfall of Hell, and the beginning of a life new and everlasting.” In His Resurrection the whole of humanity, all human nature, is co-resurrected with Christ, “the human race is clothed in incorruption.” Co-resurrected not indeed in the sense that all are raised from the grave.

RENEWAL MONDAY. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! THE POWERLESSNESS OF DEATH

CHRISTOS ANESTI!  CHRIST IS RISEN! In the death of the Savior the powerlessness of death over Him was revealed. In the fullness of His human nature Our Lord was mortal, since even in the original and spotless human nature a “potentia mortis” was inherent. The Lord was killed and died. But death did not hold Him. “It was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). St. John Chrysostom commented: “He Himself

THE HOLY AND GREAT PASCHA! CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN!

CHRISTOS ANESTI!  CHRIST IS RISEN! Pascha, our Passing over into Life  Finally! The Hebrew Scriptures have been opened and the mystery declared: how the sheep was sacrificed, and how a people were redeemed, and Pharaoh wincing, lashed by unsuspected mystery. Therefore, all-beloved, apprehend the secrets of the Pascha. See that they contain both new and old, eternal and provisional, what passes and what will never pass away, mortal and immortal, both. For the law is

The Holy and Great Saturday

“I am the Resurrection and the Life” (Part III) The very death of the Incarnate reveals the resurrection of human nature (St. John of Damascus, De fide orth., 3.27; cf. Homil. in Magn. Sabbat., 29). “Today we keep the feast, for our Lord is nailed upon the Cross,” in the sharp phrase of St. John Chrysostom (In crucem et latronem, hom. 1). The death on the Cross is a victory over death not only because

The Holy and Great Wednesday

In the Gospel and hymns of the Church for Holy Wednesday, we hear about the sinful woman who broke an alabaster box of costly ointment, wept at Jesus’ feet, and dried them with her hair. She broke the box – i.e. saved nothing for herself – and poured it out as her offering. It cost 300 denarii, which was 300 days’ wages! This latter fact enrages the disciple who sits in a place of honor

Lazarus Saturday

Saturday of the Holy and Righteous Friend of Christ, Lazarus Introduction On the Saturday before Holy Week, the Orthodox Church commemorates a major feast of the year, the miracle of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when he raised Lazarus from the dead after he had lain in the grave four days. Here, at the end of Great Lent and the forty days of fasting and penitence, the Church combines this celebration with that of