6th Week After Pentecost - Tuesday: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; Matthew 13:24-30 [button style="success"]Click here to subscribe in iTunes[/button] [button style="success"]Click here to subscribe in RSS[/button]
Nativity of the Honourable and Glorious Prophet John Forerunner and Baptist of Christ; Romans 13:11-14:4; Luke 1:1-25 57-68 76 80 June 24 - The Nativity of St. John the Forerunner and Baptist of Christ [button style="success"]Click here to subscribe in iTunes[/button] [button style="success"]Click here to subscribe in RSS[/button]
When we think of slavery it is the experience of blacks in America which most often comes to mind. Africans targeted by commercial slave traders as ignorant savages were captured in raids, transported across the Atlantic and sold on the open market like livestock. In the Roman Empire slavery was not tied to race as it was here. The first slaves seem to have been children sold by their own parents and enemy warriors and their families captured during battle. Debtors sold themselves into slavery to cover their debts. They could be freed if their family or friends paid off…
Recently, the website, “Ship of Fools,” reported the following list of support group meetings for the week at a Lutheran church in Ohio: Mon – Alcoholics Anonymous Tues – Abused Spouses Wed – Eating Disorders Thu – Say No to Drugs Fri – Teen Suicide Watch Sat – Soup Kitchen At the Sunday service the sermon was “America’s Joyous Future.” While America’s future may be joyous, its present seems decidedly troubled. There are not enough days in the week to treat all the disorders plaguing our society: internet gambling and pornography as well as school shootings, being only the most…
In much of the world today multi-cultural communities abound. There are cities whose residents trace their lineage to every part of the globe, where a host of languages, religions, foods and music abound. At the same time we know that there are also more homogeneous communities – usually smaller or more isolated – where a different ethnic, religious or even regional background would set people apart as being outsiders. In these traditional societies uniformity is more valued than diversity. Israel during its formative period was such a society. In many respects it was similar to its neighbors in the Middle…
“After the long Feast of Pentecost, fasting is especially necessary to purify our thoughts and render us worthy to receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit … Therefore, the salutary custom was established of fasting after the joyful days during which we celebrated the resurrection and ascension of our Lord, and the coming of the Holy Spirit” (from a sermon of Pope St. Leo the Great, +461). The fifty days of feasting from Pascha to Pentecost is followed by a time of fasting which we call the Fast of the Apostles. The first evidence of this fast is found in…
Several hymns of Pentecost allude to promises made by Christ concerning the coming Holy Spirit. He would be “another Paraclete” (Comforter or Advocate), Jesus Himself being their first Paraclete. The Holy Spirit, being immaterial, would “abide with you forever” (John 14:15). He would be “everywhere present and filling all things,” as we say in the hymn to the Holy Spirit which begins most of our services. The Lord Jesus, took on our humanity to be like us in all things except sin. His earthly life, like ours would be limited to a certain time and a certain place so that…
St. John Chrysostom answers this question briefly when he writes: They say: 'We can pray at home.' You are deceiving yourself, O man! Of course, one can pray at home. But it is impossible to pray there as in church, where such a multitude of hearts are uplifted to God, merging into one unanimous cry. You will not be so quickly heard while praying to the Master by yourself, as when praying together with your brethren, for here in church there is something greater than in your room: Agreement, unanimity, the bond of love, and finally here are the prayers…
As we approach Great Lent, the time given to us specifically for repentance, the Church gives us a whole host of images to help us. St. John of Kronstadt teaches that: “Imagery or symbols are a necessity of human nature in our presently spiritually sensual condition; they explain [by the vision] many things belonging to the spiritual world which we could not know without images and symbols.” We need pictures to help us think, to help us digest and understand the truths given to us. What St. Andrew of Crete does in the Great Canon written by him, is to…
Source: Eparchy of Newton SAY GOOD-BYE TO MEAT. In the fasting practice common to all Byzantine Churches Meatfare Sunday is the last day on which meat would be eaten until Pascha. This is the first step towards the fuller discipline of the Great Fast when dairy products would not be eaten as well. This is why next Sunday is called Cheesefare Sunday (good-bye to dairy products). Why is meat targeted in the Fast? Certainly in most places meat is a special festive dish. We think of the fatted calf which the father ordered slain to welcome his prodigal son back…
