(I wrote this post after reading an excellent question on Facebook from a dear brother in Christ concerning the celebration of of ‘holidays’ like St. Patrick’s Day, St. Valentine’s Day, and even Christmas and Easter. It was especially focused on the question of why ‘non-catholics’ would celebrate essentially ‘catholic’ holidays. He asked for thoughts and […]
Category: Faith Matters
Jesus Said What?!
Sometimes the Bible just doesn’t make sense. If you’ve really spent time trying to read it, opening yourself up to the message, even trying to allow it to shape and inform you, you’ve probably experienced the paradox: At once you can be utterly comforted by a word of Scripture (a greater comfort than one can […]
Pray For Me
Pray for me. This is something people of faith often say. We ask others to pray for us when we face uncertainty in life: “Pray for me I have a job interview today”, “Pray for me, I’m starting a new class”, “Pray for me, I’m going to have a difficult conversation with someone today”. We […]
Guns and Religion
Originally posted on Saved Together:
(Originally posted on January 17, 2013) My heart is grieved. My heart has been heavy over the past weeks and months as I have seen the debate develop surrounding guns and violence in our nation in the wake of the horrific shootings in Newtown, CT. I am not going to…
Judas and the Harlot: The Midpoint of Orthodox Christian Holy Week
The halfway point of Orthodox Christian Holy Week begins, really, on Tuesday evening, with the Matins of Holy Wednesday. One of the characteristics of Holy Week is the way time is turned “upside down”. If immersed in the services, in contemplation of the events remembered, it sets a unique tone, which very much begins to […]
Holy Week Begins!
As another Holy Week begins in the Orthodox Church, my eleventh as an Orthodox Christian, I am grateful and again stand in awe of the majesty and almost overwhelming character of this culmination of the Church year. There is a lifetime of learning and growing that the Church provides unlike I have ever seen or […]
Why Have We Fasted?
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ This week, Orthodox Christians are in the final week of Great Lent, a period set aside during the church year for repentance and preparation for the remembrance and celebration of Jesus Christ’s […]
Our Founding Father: Saint Herman of Alaska
I recently heard a podcast of an interview with the newly elected Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America, Tikhon, in which he was asked what he thought the strengths of the American Orthodox Church were. He began by noting the legacy of Saints that have already been recognized in the relatively short (in Orthodox […]
Holy Saturday Reflection: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent
Since my last post, there have been several services at St. Stephens, I just haven’t stopped long enough to get to my computer. To be more exact, the service really didn’t end from last night at 7pm until after Liturgy for Holy Saturday this morning. After the Burial Service, an all night vigil was held […]
Vespers of Holy Saturday (Friday Afternoon)
This afternoon at 4pm was the service of Vespers for Holy Saturday – also known as the taking down of the cross, or the “unnailing service”. This prayer service marks the end of the crucifixion of Jesus, the taking down of His body, and the preparation for burial by Joseph of Arimathea. This theme continues […]
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