Faith – Page 3 – Royal Doors

Oct

22

2017

Dying to Self and Living In Christ (Luke 7:11-16)

Faithdying, raising, son, widow

When He Saw Her As we read this Gospel today it can be easy to miss the point, especially if we have the eyes of our times. “What’s in it for me?” What can Jesus do for me? What will I get out of being a follower of Christ? How will this fulfill me? Our Lord, having just healed the centurion’s servant who was close to death the day before, travels to Nain where He is greeted by a crowd of people who are burying the body of this young man who has died. And as we read, seeing him,…

Oct

15

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

The Divine Iconographer- Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council

Faithfathers, iconography, icons, seventh ecumenical council

Why do we have icons? And so many of them? Icons in fact come out of a troubled time in the Church’s history. But that’s ok, because the Church comes out of a troubled time in history. This is what we read about in today’s Gospel. Our Lord’s prayer in chapter 17 of the Gospel of John is easy to get lost in. There is a lot of circular language which our Lord uses in His prayer to the Father. This was the final prayer and conversation that Christ had with His disciples before his betrayal and death, and has…

Oct

14

2017

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Icons in the Bible

Faith, Featured Articles, Liturgy

FROM TIME TO TIME Eastern Christians are reproached for venerating icons because “icons are not in the Bible.” St John of Damascus, whose treatises on icons were instrumental in defeating iconoclasm, taught that the Church’s icons are “in the Bible” because they stand in the context of God’s own self-revelation to us through images. We make icons because God has made icons. The Perfect Icon of the Father God the Father Himself is unknowable, beyond our understanding, according to the Torah. To represent Him in physical form would be idolatry. For the Jews even to speak His name would be…

Sep

11

2017

By Fr. Andrii Chornenkyi

Resources for the Catechism “Christ Our Pascha”

Faith

Welcome to the Resource page for Christ Our Pascha, the English translation of the Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. These materials have been prepared by the National Catechetical Commission of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada to assist parish priests and catechists in their presentation of the Catechism to the faithful. The resources include: PowerPoint Presentations There is one presentation for each of the three parts of the Catechism (from 26 to 30 slides per presentation). These are based on the Table of Contents with presentation notes for each slide. The notes are of uneven length given the content…

Apr

14

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

A Personal Invite

Faith

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Brothers and sisters, I have been enjoying very much our daily (or semi-daily) reflections together at Musings with Fr. Mike. I have found the experience of reflecting on and writing about the daily lectionary readings beneficial and enriching for my own walk with the Lord. I pray these meditations on Holy Scripture have been fruitful for you as well. These daily reflections (and they will actually be daily) will be taking a bit of a different turn and I am excited to offer you a personal invite to join us in breaking open the Word…

Mar

23

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Genesis 10:32–11:9- Back to Babbling

Faithbabel, materialism, pride, science

Glory be to Jesus Christ! I love science. When I was a boy I spent a lot of time reading about astronomy and different natural phenomena in geology and the other natural sciences. I was fascinated by many of the inventions that had been designed by famous scientists and I even had some crazy inventions of my own (which didn't work). Scientific breakthroughs have made life much easier for us and have even made life possible in many cases. But have you ever heard someone say "science can't explain it yet, but it's only a matter of time?" There's a…

Mar

22

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Genesis 9:18–10:1- Do We Cover Nakedness?

Faithcanaan, clothing, ham, nakedness, noah, shem

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Think back to the first time you heard about nakedness in the Bible. Not very far in right? After Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they discovered they were naked. Not because they had become more sophisticated, educated or "civilized" from their choice, but because they realized what they had done- they had traded their dignity for a half-truth, and were now exposed. Nakedness in the Bible is often used to show vulnerability and a lack of dignity. In our reading today from Genesis we see the…

Mar

21

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Isaiah 25:1-9- Who are you Waiting For?

Faithredeemed, savior, superheroes

Glory be to Jesus Christ! I enjoy superhero stories very much. When I was a boy I wanted very much to be Spiderman and use my powers to make the world a better place. The idea of someone who cares and "saves the day" simply because it is the right thing to do seems to be an idea which is both inspiring and yet one which is becoming more and more difficult to trust in our world. Like everything else in our culture, superheros may be becoming more advanced, amazing, powerful and more super, but they are becoming less heroic.…

Mar

20

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Genesis 8:21-9:7- My Brother’s Keeper

Faithbrothers keeper, heaven, hell, lewis

Glory be to Jesus Christ! What do you think Hell is like? There have been many different analogies used for Hell throughout the Scriptures and by contemporary authors. Our Lord used the garbage dump just outside the city of Jerusalem, Gehenna, where trash was burned day and night as an example of what Hell is like. Some people have seen Hell as a cold place and lonely place, where others have seen it as a place of intense physical and spiritual suffering. The analogy which I have always found very terrifying and yet very telling comes from C.S. Lewis' The…

Mar

17

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Genesis 8:4-21- A New Creation

Faithcreation, flood, noah

Glory be to Jesus Christ! God made a reboot of creation. Having seen the wickedness that the world had descended into, and regretting His creation of the world, God begins again. We often focus on the death and destruction which ensues in this story, and sometimes forget the saving message of the story as well: Noah and his family (and their families) are saved by God. What is happening here is not simply the annihilation of sinful humanity, but the recreation of the world. Noah and his family, in a very special way, will cooperate with the Lord's plan through…