If we have neglected reading the Bible, then this first day of Great Lent is a good time to reestablish that discipline and follow the calendar readings. Over the next forty days they will take us through Isaiah, Genesis and Proverbs, and in that time we will find out again—if…
Wednesday and Friday in the week before Great Lent are what might be called practice days for the coming fast. The order of services is Lenten, the fast is strict and the daily readings are from the Old Testament. But it’s curious how joyful the very first reading is that…
The Gospel readings in this last week before Great Lent begins take us to the end of Lent, Holy Week and Gethsemane. This is a reminder that all our approaching Lenten fasting and services are meant to draw us deeper and deeper into the reality of Christ’s sacrificial love “on…
The epistle reading today is the entire letter of 2 John, and I don’t think you can find a better braiding of the Christian understanding of love and truth. As Archimandrite Kallistos (Ware) told a group of Saint Vladimir’s students in 1978 (interviewing him for one of the last issues of Concern…
Short entry today because I’m about to get into a car at 9:00 am with Metropolitan Tikhon and his assistant Roman Ostash to drive to Saint Tikhon’s Seminary for a meeting of the Board of Trustees.
But just as we are leaving I see that Ryan Platte, the OCA’s technical manager responsible for…
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
As we move towards Great Lent the gospel readings remind us that we are headed ultimately towards Holy Week and the events of Jesus’…
For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. (1John 3:20)
We have a rich set of readings as we prepare to enter Great Lent. The epistle talks about Christian self-sacrificial love, demonstrated in deeds, giving up our lives for the love of the brethren…
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (1 John 1:6)
Do you remember the WWJD phenomenon that swept the world of evangelical Christianity in the 1990’s? “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelets were everywhere, abbreviated to WWJD. The phrase also came to be parodied and…
For in those days there will be tribulation. (Mark 13:19)
The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. (2 Peter 2:9)
These words were written in the first century, but Christians in every century since then have speculated that their time was the worst of times,…
Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much.
Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.
So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I…
For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles – when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. (1 Peter 4:3)
Last weekend we celebrated the Sunday of Zacchaeus, that signal…
“…Seek peace and pursue it… and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you. (1 Peter 3:11, 15)
In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees come together to see if they can trip-up Jesus with a question about the resurrection…
“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” (Psalm 118:22, 1 Peter 1:7, Mark 12:10)
Both the epistle and gospel for today quite this verse from Psalm 118:22. The early church often brought out these scriptural words when summarizing the victory of…
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. (Mark 11:25-26)
Saint Nikolai…
The Temple in Jerusalem that Jesus knew and loved was built after Israel’s return from the Babylonian Captivity, starting in 516 BC (the original temple was destroyed by the invaders and left as a pile of rubble in 587 BC). The whole Temple area was holy, but the deeper one…
For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:13)
This is one of my favorite “go to verses” when I have to consider my reactions to others. I know I would be lost if judgment had the upper hand and don’t want to be in the position of that wicked…
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (James…
Saint Theodosius of Chernigov was only in his sixties when he reposed in 1696, hence the reference to the righteous man who dies early in one of the readings at vespers, Wisdom of Solomon 4:7-15. Besides being an attempt to reflect on why someone…
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (Heb 11:8)
The Divine Liturgy for Metropolitan Tikhon’s enthronement last Sunday…
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.(Heb. 11:1)
I use the Saint Tikhon’s lectionary wall calendar to check the readings and saints for the day. I use the OCA website too, but I like the feel of something material that I can hold in my hands.
I like the…