“Thoughts in Christ”

It’s never easy to reprimand somebody and to do so graciously. Everyone wants to be praised, and if not praised, then understood. Old people, specifically older men, expect to be justified. We know all too well the type: They criticize everything but themselves. They go about making lists of all the things that are wrong with the world, the country,…

What is he saying? He is dead? How can that be? St. Paul is expressing something that shatters all logic, unless it is mere hyperbole—but he is dead serious. Rather, he is alive and quite serious. The crucified Christ is living in and through him, by the Holy Spirit. His life is an ongoing experience of faith in the Son of God, and we have to…

Every parish has them, praise the Lord. They are never heard, yet they hear all that takes place in the church. They rarely speak up at parish meetings or in the clusters of talkers who have so much to say about the pastor and the affairs of the congregation. They aren’t the ones who present themselves at banquets, offer toasts, or rush forth to be…

St. Luke, who had a gift for observing and recording human nature, capturing idiosyncrasies for his readers, offers us the contrasting characteristics of these sisters—Martha the extrovert, Mary the introvert. Jesus uses their differences to teach a lesson of values.

Martha has a point. The house is filled with guests, the honored One being Jesus…

Our Lord Jesus points out the miracle of life’s renewal in a grain of wheat. The inanimate grain multiplies when it dies and is buried. Living things also hibernate. Now in the late autumn countless millions of cocoons hang from branches across the northern hemisphere. Each contains a living creature entombed in a prison of its own making. What were…

Let’s contrast the ending of the conventional Old Testament [without the Apocrypha] with the conclusion of the New Testament. They are both presented above. The prophet Malachi predicted that Elijah would appear to Israel before the day of the Lord [Hbw. Yom YHWH]/ He was sent by the Lord Almighty to bring understanding between the generations.…

It sounds so obvious that you may wonder why the Bible would present such a platitude. It’s not a simple thing, however, to trust in the Lord with all your heart. We don’t always realize how often we trust others instead. For example, take the case of chain letters.

What do you do when you are sent a chain letter? Now that people utilize the…

I’ve always been intrigued at what it takes for a person to betray a leader or a country. It’s not done on a whim or an impulse—as we see above, it took forethought for Judas to turn against Jesus, until “from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.” He had been among the privileged inner circle. He was present to witness the many miracles…

An ancient Hebrew proverb says, “Raising children is like peeling an onion. You end up with tears in your eyes, and nothing in your hands.” Well, maybe not always. But the spiritual truth in the sad prediction is that it’s more often the case when we make the mistake of idolizing our children. How often do we find the opposite extreme from parents…

At the poignant parting of the Lord Jesus with His disciples, He gave them a gift and a promise. He left them His special peace, and He promised that the Father would soon send them the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is His partner in salvation. He will teach them and remind them—teach, meaning explain the implications of all that Christ had revealed to…

The highlight of the Holy Liturgy is the invitation from the altar to approach and receive the sacred Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ. You have prepared yourself by fasting and reciting the prayers before Communion. Now three requirements challenge you as you approach the holy chalice.

A. With the fear of God. Fear is a…

We might explore this enlightening anecdote for lessons we can apply to ourselves. First comes family values from a model family, albeit one without children or parents. Three siblings who live together are bonded in a love relationship that has no sexual expression. Here we find a monastic community in the midst of society.

Where is Lazarus, the…

I’m sitting with the family in the hospital atrium. We are waiting for the signal that the lifeless infant, but a month shy of birthing time, had been removed from her mother’s womb. Then we are to go to her side for prayers and comfort, assisting as best we are able the melancholy process of spiritual healing.

“You priests must become accustomed…

Raising towers comes instinctively to men, but not necessarily to women. Boy infants squat on the floor, squeeze blocks in fat fingers and place one atop another, piling them up until they fall. Later they will fulfill that urge by erecting pillars, monuments, spires and towers as evidence of their presence on the earth. And they take pride in…

The Holy Land is where a horrible war rages on. It appears there is no way to attain peace between Arabs and Israelis. No plan is offered, no nation including our own is able to help. Killings are a daily phenomenon. We might ask the famous question worn on many Christian children’s bracelets: WWJD. What Would Jesus Do?

We know already from what He…

Originality is difficult to come by. For instance, take the problem that the Communists had when they sought to replace the Russian Orthodox Church with atheism. They realized that the people were so imbued with the essentials of their faith that if they were to replace Christianity, they could not just do it with nothing at all. So they substituted…

Here begins the Sermon on the Mount. If it will mean anything to you, first you must follow Him up the mountain. Like Him, you must leave the crowds behind. That part of you that belongs to the ordinary, the everyday conventional way of life, is a detriment to spiritual progress. “Holy things are for the holy!” You hear it proclaimed just before…

If you need a reason to attend the Divine Liturgy, it’s enough just to listen to the choir sing the phrase: “now lay aside all earthly cares.” Better than any session with psychiatrist or meeting of a group therapy class, preferable to learning Oriental meditation transcendental or otherwise, is the self-awareness that comes from contemplating that…

I’ll be sorry when our iconographer completes his task of surrounding our temple with beautiful icons. It’s always interesting to hear the comments of those who voice their opinions on the work in progress. One might think that he would add pigments to the white surface until he arrives at skin tone; but it’s not how it’s done. The master begins the…

I’m in a foreign land in a store standing in line behind a rangy young lad plucking his purchases from his basket. As he places them on the checkout counter, I notice that though he’s not an American he may as well be one. His neck chain spills from his tee shirt. I’m curious to see what symbol he would wear on the chain. Some American baseball…