Reflections in Christ

The Gospel reading at the Divine Liturgy for February 21, 2016—the first of the four pre-Lenten Sundays—is Luke 18:10-14.  In it we discover our Lord’s parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.

As with all of the parables of Christ, we can understand this parable in two very different ways.  We can listen to it carefully, reflect upon it through…

The Super Bowl and the secular Super Sunday is now over. The colossal social phenomenon—the Super Bowl—was viewed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide this past Sunday.  Not to be disparaging or dismissive, it might be wise to approach this phenomenon from the perspective of our shared Orthodox Christian faith.  No sense carrying on about the…

The 18th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America. held in Atlanta, Georgia in July 2015, is now an event of the recent past.  It was a productive and positive Council that passed two very important resolutions that will impact the future of the OCA—the creation of a newly-revised Statute for the Church; and a new model of funding the…

Friday, January 22, 2016 marks the 43rd Anniversary of the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973 that effectively legalized unrestricted access to abortion in the United States of America.  Despite reports of impending ominous weather, tends of thousands of people of faith—including many Orthodox Christians—will march in the nation’s…

“I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins” [Nicene Creed]

The Great Feast of Theophany is more ancient that that of Christ’s Nativity.  In fact, it was precisely on January 6 that the Church first celebrated Christ’s birth (and the adoration of the Magi), together with His baptism in the Jordan.  These events—of the greatest…

“Take heed and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”  (Luke 12:15).

There is hardly a Christian who would disagree with this teaching of the Lord, as expressed in the words above, when it comes to our relationship with the “abundance of our possessions.”  We know that our life does not…

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil” [Ephesians 5:15-16].

To “walk”—in the context of this epistle—is a metaphor for how we conduct our lives.  We can live wisely or unwisely.  To “walk” unwisely means that we can easily resemble a “fool.”  Avoiding such a “false…

A few years ago I ran across an op-ed piece in our newspaper titled “A Moveable Fast” by Elyssa East.  Such a title in a well-known urban secular publication was a bit intriguing, especially since the article’s concluding paragraph can be read in an “Orthodox manner” without a great deal of manipulation:  “In the nearly 400 years since the first…

Yesterday—Sunday, November 15—we entered into the forty-day Nativity Fast, or Advent, that prepares us liturgically and personally for the Feast of our Lord’s Nativity in the Flesh on December 25.  This is a sacred season because it leads us toward the awesome event of the Incarnation, expressed so powerfully in the Gospel according to Saint John:…

At 6:00 p.m. next Saturday evening, October 31, 2015, I will intone the opening doxology of Great Vespers—“Blessed is our God, always now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.”  During this service, we inaugurate the liturgical cycle of the Lord’s Day—the Day of Resurrection.  In Great Vespers we sing and chant many hymns through which we glorify…

Recently, I was browsing through some journals at a bookstore, and I picked up the current issue of one of my favorite religious journals, First Things.  I came across a promotion of a new book by an African Roman Catholic bishop whose name escapes me.  The title of the book was God or Nothing.  I was immediately attracted by that…

Recently, I read an article that dealt with the issue of the possible convergence between theology and science.  The specific theme of the article was an analysis of the current Pope’s remarks on the compatibility of belief in God and evolution.  Not addressing that specific issue here, I did want to share an interesting metaphor attributed to…

“Let us examine not the outer garments, but the conscience of each person” (Saint John Chrysostom).

It is true that Jesus told His disciples that “you always will have the poor with you.”  But He went on to say that “whenever you will, you can do good to them” (Mark 14:7).  Though Jesus allowed and defended the “costly” pre-burial anointing He…

“If ninety-nine of us are good and saintly but one of our brothers or sisters is far from our solace and support, in sin and darkness, be sure that God is not among us ninety-nine, but He has gone to find our brother whom we have lost and forgotten.”—Saint Nikolai Velimirovic (+1956)

These deeply Gospel-inspired words are clearly based on Christ’s…

The Great Feast of the Elevation of the Cross raises a myriad of themes—Biblical, historical, theological, etc.—upon which to meditate.  One such theme is what we call a typological reading of the Scriptures.  This is a profound way of discovering the inner connection between persons, events, and places of the Old Testament—what we would call…

Contemporary scholars debate the meaning of the word “sign” in the words of Christ found in the above passage that describes, in highly symbolic terms, His parousia or return in glory.  This sign, whatever it may be, will be impossible to miss or misinterpret.  It will overwhelm those who are present to observe it and stand in its shadow, so to…

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” [Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-19].

Tuesday, September 1, 2015, marks the beginning of the Church Year.  This is an overlooked commemoration, but I do believe that with more attention, it can be an important day/date in our ecclesial lives, for the simple reason that…

Regardless of how well one may know the Gospels, it is challenging to form a clear image of “what Jesus was like.” This is not in reference to His deeds and words, for these are amply recorded in the four canonical Gospels. I am referring more to what we would today describe as someone’s “personality.” Are we able to get behind the…

“The love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Timotny 6:10).

In all of his epistles, the Apostle Paul proves to be an admirable pastor.  His epistles are filled with theological insights, moral/ethical teachings, exhortations, and even chastisements that are meant to be practical and applicable to the life-situations within the local churches…

In several days, we will celebrate the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, a Feast of light and glory celebrated every year on August 6.  The account of the Transfiguration can be found in three of the Gospels - Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8 and Luke 9:28-36.  There is also a powerful eyewitness account of the event written by the Apostle…