Blog entries - August 2008

A (too) Brief Orthodox Approach to Islam

Fr John Parker — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0100

"God is the Lord and has revealed Himself to us, blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord!" This beautiful hymn, sung at the Orthodox matins service (and a conglomeration of different Psalms) is a significant, if not the most important, starting point for our conversations about God. When we enter a theological discussion, we do not begin with a generic belief that there is "a" God-some nameless higher power, and move from there to God's planRead More...

Forgiving our Brother-Homily on the 11th Sunday after Pentecost

Priest Matthew Jackson — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The parable we hear from our Lord this morning (Matthew 18:23-35) is about forgiveness. It's often interesting to put the Sunday lectionary readings into their Scriptural context, sometimes it gives us a bit more insight into the meaning of the passage. Immediately before our reading, St. Peter asks Christ, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" (Matthew 18:21) Christ then answers, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, bRead More...

Reacting to Ridicule-A Homily for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost

Priest Matthew Jackson — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

All of us, at some time or another, have faced some kind of ridicule, being looked down on and judged by someone else, being singled out. This happens in so many ways. Kids with each other and in school, as we're in the world or at our workplaces, even in the Church or in our homes with our families. So often we find ourselves being judged in some way, looks, clothes, interests, faith and morals. The list is endless because we can all be singled out and attacked for basically everything aRead More...

Mine Own of Mine Own?

Fr John Parker — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

At every Divine Liturgy, the Priest (or the Deacon when there is one) elevates the chalice, and the celebrant exclaims, "Thine own of thine own, we offer unto thee, in behalf of all, and for all!" These are remarkably powerful words which sum up the whole liturgy--indeed our whole life as it was designed to be. In this moment we are offering to God not only the bread (including the hands that made it and the laborers who afforded us the ingredients) and the wRead More...

Keeping our eyes on Christ-Homily for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost

Priest Matthew Jackson — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In this morning’s Gospel reading (Matthew 14:22-24), we have one of the most well known (and most often retold) of Christ’s miracles, walking on water. We hear this miracle told with the focus mostly on Christ, on how His command over the elements, His ability to walk on water, demonstrates His divinity. But this morning I’d like us to focus not on what Christ does, but on what St. Peter fails to do.

It’s a pretty spectacular miracle to walk on water, but no more amazinRead More...

Let There Be No Divisions - St. Paul on the Church

Priest Matthew Jackson — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In our Epistle reading this morning (1 Corinthians 1:10-18), St. Paul touches on a very significant aspect of the life of the Christian Church—Her unity, Her One-ness. St. Paul is addressing a specific issue in the Church in Corinth, an issue that seems kind of silly to us perhaps.The members of the Church are vying for position based on who administered their baptism; as if baptism by Paul would somehow be “better” than a baptism by someone else. St. Paul immediately shows thRead More...

The Meeting with Christ - A Homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration

Priest Matthew Jackson — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

The Epistle reading assigned for this morning’s Feast is an incredibly important reading, especially for those of us who are trying to sort out what is means to be an Orthodox Christian, our purpose, our goal.In the reading, St. Peter says that the way the Apostles knew that the Words of Christ were not “cunningly devised fables” (v. 16), the proof he offers for his faith in Christ, was his experience of the glory and the majesty of God witnessed at the Transfiguration.

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Orthodox TV: Broadcasts of Holy Week 2008

Seraphim Dankaert — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Many of the Holy Week services are available for streamling and download by visiting our Holy Week archive.