What the modern man does not understand, that to which he has become blind and deaf, is thus the fundamental Christian vision of death, in which the “biological” or physical death is not the whole death, not even its ultimate essence. For in this Christian vision, death is above all a spiritual reality, of which […]
Read MoreThis great Feast of the Church and the icon celebrates a fundamental teaching of our faith—the Resurrection of the body. In the case of the Theotokos, this has been accomplished by the divine will of God. Thus, this Feast is a feast of hope, hope in Resurrection and life eternal. Like those who gathered […]
Read MoreUntil now, I didn’t think it was possible to show … self-confidence without alienating myself from the very people with whom I wished to identify. But now I began to understand that the confidence I felt could only be in direct proportion to the confidence I had in the people around me. The higher I […]
Read MoreFrom The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O’Connor … a certain glibness on the altar is more than just a bare possibility. For when we do anything, however important, over and over again, when by repetition we reach the point where we could do this thing without thinking, the danger is that we will […]
Read MoreIn order to understand the depths of this danger and its genuine horror, one must first of all sense the essence of what we have termed “unity from below,” in contradistinction to the “unity from above.” It is that unity that, however much it is fallen, dead and “lying in evil,” lives to the same […]
Read MoreWhat does it mean to bless the kingdom? It means that we acknowledge and confess it to be our highest and ultimate value, the object of our desire, our love and our hope. It means that we proclaim it to be the goal of the sacrament–of pilgrimage, ascension, entrance–that now begins. It means that we […]
Read MoreIn a few hours, the plane that brought me to this country [South Africa] crossed over oceans and countries which have been a crucible of human history. In minutes we traced the migration of men over thousands of years; seconds, the briefest glimpse, and we passed battlefields on which millions of men once struggled and died. […]
Read MoreShine, O Cross of the Lord! Illumine the hearts of those who honor you! With love inspired by God, we embrace you, for you are the only hope of the world. Through you our tears are wiped away, the snares of death are sprung, and we pass over into everlasting joy. Through the Cross […]
Read MoreA young man called me recently to discuss his family’s movement toward the Orthodox Church. He told me a priceless story about how his seven-year old daughter helped him and his wife understand an Orthodox practice that is often a hindrance to inquirers. Although the family had icons in their home they could not grasp […]
Read MoreA young man once approached an older Christian with the question, “What does it mean as far as this life is concerned to be ‘crucified with Christ?’” The believer replied, “It means three things: (1) a man on a cross is facing only one direction; (2) he is not going back; and (3) he has […]
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RJB
September 5, 2020
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