Faith – Page 15 – Royal Doors

May

15

2015

Ascended and Enthroned

Faith, LiturgyFeasts

He has spoken blasphemy! … What do you think?” the high priest asked the assembled Sanhedrin. And they answered, “He is deserving of death.” Thus the Lord Jesus was condemned (cf. Matthew 26:59-67). But in what had He supposedly blasphemed? The Gospel records it this way, “The high priest answered and said to [Jesus], ‘I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right…

May

08

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Let Him Who Thirsts Come

Faith, Liturgybaptism, Pascha, water

Water is central to Life everywhere, but especially in places like the Middle East where it is in short supply. We do not know when people began supplementing the rainwater they collected by digging water from shallow pools. When metal tools came into use, wells 100 feet deep and more could be dug. Access to underground water became an important key to survival for peoples in otherwise arid lands. Villages were built around wells, which became important focal points of the local community. The well was the natural gathering place in ancient villages. It was also the place to meet…

May

08

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

The Prophet Isaiah: “More an Evangelist than a Prophet”

FaithOld Testament

Of all the Old Testament Prophets quoted in the New Testament, the most frequently cited is Isaiah, who is remembered on our Church’s calendar on May 9. Isaiah’s prophecies are referenced 66 times in the New Testament; only the Psalms are more frequently quoted. Isaiah lived in the eighth century bc, a time of great political upheaval in the Holy Land. The Assyrian Empire was poised to engulf the northern kingdom, Israel, (which it would succeed in doing) and threatened the southern kingdom, Judah, as well. While the rulers’ response was to seek military alliances with neighboring pagan kingdoms, Isaiah’s…

Apr

30

2015

By Fr. Michael Winn

Mission Days 2015

Christian Life, Faith, NewsPentecost

Publication of the UGCC Council for Evangelization Through our active participation in the spiritual efforts of these ten Mission Days, once again we are called upon to discover and understand anew that our parish communities and families (domestic churches) are missionary in nature. Such understanding flows from the gift of our Baptism, by virtue of which, and through the power of its mystery, we have committed ourselves to believe, live, serve, and share the experience of our faith in Christ; and not simply with our family members, but with everyone we meet in life. From the feast of the Ascension…

Apr

25

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Herald of Heavenly Mysteries

Faith

Since the second century Christians have been accustomed to identify the second of our four Gospels by the name of its author, Mark the Evangelist. The Gospel itself, however, never identifies its author by name or gives us any clue to the author’s identity. What, then, is the source of this identification with Mark and what do we know about him? It is the early second-century bishop of Hieropolis in Asia Minor, Papias, who identified the Gospel writers in his work, Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord. St Irenaeus of Lyons (+ c.202) tell us that Papias had ties…

Apr

24

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Why Are There Two Paschas?

Christian Life, FaithPascha

A sore point in the relationship between the Churches concerns the date on which we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Often one group of Christians is observing Pascha while their neighbors may have up to a month to go before they do the same. While some people may enjoy having two festive meals as a result (they rarely observe both fasts), Christians have always seen this as a regrettable, if unavoidable anomaly. The Quartodecimans The oldest celebration of Christ’s resurrection is not Pascha (Easter) but every Sunday, the Lord’s Day. When an annual festival came into being is not known…

Apr

24

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

A Lamb Without Blemish and Without Spot

Faith

What’s in a name?” This question, which Shakespeare put in the mouth of Juliet, has become something of a cliché ever since. Nevertheless, it is certainly a valid question when we look at our name for the Feast of Christ’s Resurrection. In AD 725 St Bede the Venerable, an English monk and scholar, addressed this question in his work, The Reckoning of Time. He tells us that the word “Easter” was the Old English term for the month which we call April and which, in turn “was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honor feasts…

Mar

31

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Christ in Prophetic Song

FaithMatins, Old Testament

Source: Eparchy of Newton When the Risen Christ joined the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the Gospel says that, “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). Where and how did Moses and the prophets speak of Jesus, whom the biblical teachers of His day did not recognize? The Church Fathers described the references to Christ in the Old Testament as a typology. A Biblical “type” is a person or event which points beyond its original meaning to something greater to come. The human author –…

Mar

07

2015

By Fr. Roman Planchak

“See, See That I am God”

FaithGreat Lent, Matins, Old Testament

Source: Eparchy of Newton PEOPLE FAMILIAR WITH the Church’s morning service (Matins or Orthros) would recognize the term “Ninth Ode.” It refers to the Biblical canticle of the Theotokos which begins, “My soul magnifies the Lord…” (cf., Luke 1:46-55) sung at this service. This hymn expresses the joyful gratitude of the holy Virgin at the incarnation of Christ in her womb. Calling this canticle the “Ninth Ode” raises a question. Where are the other eight? We rarely, if ever, hear of them. There are nine Biblical canticles which at one time were sung at Matins/Orthros. With the development of the…

Mar

03

2015

By Robert Taft

Anamnesis not Amnesia – The Healing of Memories and the Problem of Uniatism

Christian Life, Faith

21st Kelly Lecture, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Canada 1 December 2000 The Very Rev. Archimandrite Robert F. Taft, S.J., Vice-Rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome No one who keeps abreast of the religious news can be unaware that ecumenical relations between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches are in a period of crisis, worse, perhaps, than at any time since the official international ecumenical dialogue between these two communions began in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. The Eighth Plenary Session of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox…