“Thoughts in Christ”

In that eye contact between the apostle and the cripple, the Holy Spirit who is present everywhere bonded the two in a way that made healing possible. The Spirit told St. Paul that the man had faith enough to let him stand upright. St. Paul was not the healer—Christ was. The apostle was the trigger. The wonder is that the man might have spent his…

Any mother holding her infant is an eye-catcher. The baby, not long having been within the woman, becomes a projection of self love, a reminder of the love that produced the fruit of her womb and her gratitude for the joy of holding evidence of her love for her husband, her gift to him and the fulfillment of maternal love in the new creature held in…

I’m told that at the Diocesan Assembly of the South this year, the 300+ delegates were asked to rise if they had been baptized Orthodox Christian at birth. Only ten members from the clergy and laity stood. What a glorious celebration! The Holy Spirit is alive. Here in the United States of America, of the first-born on the continent, our beloved…

Think of Christmas, and Bethlehem comes to mind. The image of the Nativity of little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay so familiar from the cards depicting the Holy Family in the manger scene is so poignant that it draws even the formerly faithful and non-believers to celebrate the birth of the Christ child with us, or at least to affirm what it portrays…

We have just celebrated Thanksgiving Day, and already we’ve had enough of the secular seasonal songs once creative, no longer so. We pretend we enjoy the ancient carols from the old John Hancock Insurance Company booklet; however, there is one classic that seems never to grow outdated—Handel’s Messiah. Even us children and grandchildren of…

The gospels feature our Lord, God and Savior Jesus the Messiah and focus on His message and actions. It took a while for the Church to appreciate what the woman in the crowd grasped in a moment of divine inspiration—what a mother He had to produce such a Son. We know there was much more to it, which the Church took just as long to recognize,…

What is going through your mind when you hear the deacon or priest invoke this petition for the Lord’s mercy? Is it a mere background sound that you tune out, or do you think about…mercy, of course? What do you understand by this sacred term that is used so frequently in all of the Orthodox Christian worship, as well as private prayers? Forgiveness?…

The priest makes tiny crosses of sacred myrrh under the eyes and on the ears of the newly baptized Christian, chanting: “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The same is repeated by the choir. The gift is a prayer—may the newborn see and hear with the eye and ear of Christ all the beauty and sounds of a world created by the heavenly Father,…

It was the Soviet times, 1974. Trying to talk over the noise of the TU-114 on the tedious flight back to Moscow from Novosibirsk, Father Vitaly and I were discussing Christ’s enigmatic advice to Judas after the Last Supper: “What you are about to do, do quickly.” Decide, then do.

The priest theologian was most likely a “number two” on the Frolov…

St. Maximos the Confessor is addressing not only monastics but all of us who wish to grow in grace from applying his intelligent and spiritual thoughts. He is writing about the essence of love, the ascent to God and the way it shuts out all else. Think of the golden light we find everywhere on the icon of Transfiguration. Notice how it blinded the…

We are a society that looks for laughs in all places. The Bible is serious about salvation, not a laughing matter. However, the gospel of John ends with a touch of humor in the form of irony. Jesus addressing the leader of the apostles called him not by the affectionate nickname Peter, but Simon Johnson, as we today would say, asking him “Do you…

In the time of our Lord and the apostles, dogs were savage, vicious beasts that prowled about in packs, feeding in garbage dumps and attacking defenseless animals. We honor the noble Sanhedrin members Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus for having given our Lord Jesus a decent burial; it was usual for crucified criminals to be left at the sites of…

For serious Orthodox Christians the brief love story in the Old Testament called Song of Songs contains the most intense clues to the way to get in touch with the living Lord Almighty.

One such phrase is the above: I was asleep, but my heart was awake. Even while we are sleeping, we are not dead to the presence of the Holy Spirit who being…

Can you share the sensitive nature of those glorious saints, the twin brothers Cosmas and Damian? It’s like having a double dose of empathy for the sufferings of all living things. We pray for them along with others in that category called unmercenary physicians. Like the famous St. Panteleimon, they were physicians who offered their services free…

The wedding sacrament is all but concluded—not quite, however. The crowns have been removed from their heads after appropriate blessings. Indeed, blessings in abundance have poured forth upon the couple from Christ and the Holy Spirit. Adam and Eve were recalled as the symbol of unity for two become one. The great patriarchs with their wives along…

Near the end of the great theological treatise that St. Paul wrote to the Roman Church, he addressed the relationship of Gentiles and Jews. So much of his ministry was spent explaining the mystery of God’s plan of salvation that included not Jews only but all humanity. He used the metaphor of an olive tree for its importance to the people of the…

Schools are starting now that summer is over. Competition for placement, admissions to colleges of choice and permission to take select courses drive students to do whatever one can to get a head start on all others. Ambitious young people encouraged by involved parents will enroll them in whatever will offer them the opportunities to advance:…

Why would a loving God allow evil to exist, or to condemn some human beings to an eternity of darkness and hell? So often this is put to believers with the presumption taken for granted that the Creator planned such a place of torment from the beginning. The premise is wrong. Sin, separation and an eternity of hell come from the decision of the…

This phrase explains the action during the poignant Pre-Sanctified Liturgy performed only during the Great Lent. The royal doors are opened, the readings from Genesis or Exodus, Psalms or Proverbs heard, the celebrant holding the smoking censer and candle turns to the congregation and announces: “The light of Christ illuminates everything.” The…

We could call it the psychology of our salvation. The blessed fathers who composed the prayers of the services centuries past understood all the spiritual challenges that confront us. Here especially at evening when the sun sets and darkness envelopes us, our defenses are low and we are prey for the evil forces to attack us at our weakest moments,…