Reflections in Christ

Psalm 49

My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
(Psalm 49:3)

Since St. John the Forerunner and Baptist adorns every icon-screen in the Orthodox world it is hard to imagine that he was ever scandalously controversial.  But he was.  And what was it that made the child of desert so controversial?  What did…

Psalm 48

We ponder your steadfast love [Hesed], O God, in the midst of your temple.
(Psalm 48:9 RSV)

Hesed is one of the key words of the Hebrew Bible. In Greek eleos, mercy. In Latin misericordia. It has a range of nuances…

Psalm 47: uniting earth to heaven

God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
(Psalm 47:5)

Psalm 47 is used throughout the feast of our Lord’s Ascension. So we begin 2014 with a psalm that represents the end…

If you are at all like me, it is not Christmas until you have seen the holiday special A Charlie Brown Christmas, which has been shown seasonally every year since it first appeared in 1965.  I have watched it faithfully…

Dear friends,

The Chancery offices will close this afternoon for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and will reopen December 27th. I will return to writing the Chancellor’s Diary after the New Year, on Thursday…

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength…Therefore we will not fear.
The Lord of hosts is with us.
Be still and know that I am God.
(Psalm 46:1,7,10)

Psalm 45: “In anticipation proclaiming Christ to all”

Today is the preview of the good will of God, of the preaching of the salvation of mankind. The Virgin appears in the temple of God, in anticipation proclaiming Christ to all. Let us rejoice and sing to her: Rejoice, O Divine Fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation.

Psalm 44

Arise, O Lord, help us, and redeem us for thy name’s sake.
 
O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared it unto us.
Psalm 44:26,1 (Resurrection matins, tone 4 prokeimenon)

If the Christmas story has a villain, it would be King Herod.  In the passion story, the main villain would be Judas Iscariot, with possibly the High Priest Caiaphas and his Sanhedrin running a close second.  But there is no close second in the Christmas story when it comes to villains.  Herod has the field…