Archive for December 2022
Double Leave-Taking
Today is the last day of the year and the last day of Christmas. Yes, there are still five days left of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ but today is the Leave-Taking of Christmas. Liturgically that means today is the last day to sing Christmas hymns. Today is also the Leave-Taking of 2022. This is…
Read MorePreparing for the New Year
Today is Friday. In Greek that means the Day of Preparation. You never hear Friday referred to as the day of preparation unless it is Holy Week. That doesn’t mean the day still doesn’t have a purpose. In the ‘office’ workers are preparing for to make sure the company won’t ‘go under’ over the weekend.…
Read MoreGod Doesn’t Expect More from Us Than from Himself
I hear it all the time, or something like it. “I can’t do that. I’m not perfect like God.” It is so easy to turn our attention away from the life God desires for us. It isn’t that we don’t want to follow God. Our soul is most definitely called by God, and deep down…
Read MoreCount the Cost
Our society is infatuated with debt. We borrow money to purchase ‘what we want, when we want it’ no matter how much it costs. With Christmas still on our minds, many are dreading the coming credit card bill to discover just how much they spent this year on the holidays. Many will never know. They…
Read MoreDon’t Pack Christmas Away Just Yet
Shortly after the birth of Christ, Joseph was warned in a dream to flee to Egypt with Christ and His Mother. The world was already out to ‘get’ Him. What a shame if the world had won in its battle against God. We know the story. Joseph took Christ and His Mother and left for…
Read MoreEpisode 384 – We Can’t Always have a Merry Christmas, but we can always Glorify God
It isn’t always easy to be merry at Christmas. For many families Christmas this year is a time of pain and suffering. The Birth of Christ, our Savior, is worthy of celebration. This is why the traditional greeting for Christmas is ‘Christ is Born; Glorify Him!’ It perfectly captures the truth that we glorify God…
Read MoreShow me who you Pray for, and I will Show you who you Love.
I have the distinct blessing as an Orthodox Priest to pray at the Altar of God. I stand in front of His Sacred Table, offering names of loved ones and friends. These names are given to me by faithful members of my parish and others. This practice of offering names to God in prayer is…
Read MoreSometimes Families Betray Each Other
Nobody enjoys admitting it, but we all know at least one family that suffers from a broken relationship. We don’t often hear about these families on the nightly news. When we do, the story is so egregious, the sensationalist media can’t resist distributing the story. Every now and then we hear about a parent that…
Read MoreLiteralism Leads to being Blind and Maimed
Nuance makes life interesting. In every conversation and interaction, it is nuance that leads also to a fuller understanding. Nuance isn’t easy to comprehend without interpretation. When it comes to the Holy Scriptures, nuance and context have led many astray from Christ one day only to lead them toward Christ another. We can’t blame the…
Read MoreEpisode 383 – Not Perfect but Committed to God
On the Sunday before Christmas every year the Church hears a long list of names of the generations of Christ. From Abraham until Joseph the Church reminds us of the righteous ancestors of Christ described in the Old Testament. When you combine them with the saints of the New Testament we get a complete picture…
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