Posts Tagged ‘Holy Communion’
Vespers Entrance Prayer
Vespers is the “Twelfth Hour” and therefore the service that straddles the gap between day and night. Behind us are the hours of the day. Ahead are the watches of the night. Today’s Daily Lenten Journey will feature the prayer during which we ‘enter’ into the night. In the evening, at dawn, and at midday,…
Read MoreThanks for What?
We are told as Christians to be thankful. Even the act of communing with God is called Divine Thanksgiving, or Holy Eucharist. We know that God has come to save us, but our lives on earth are filled with temptations and struggles. What exactly are we supposed to be thankful for? Brethren, whatever you do,…
Read MoreGod Knows You
Three words that can either terrify you or comfort you. When we are told “God knows you” we often turn our minds to guilt and sin. While we may indeed be guilty of sin, there is something much better in these three words. God has known us since creation, and He is waiting for us.…
Read MoreWe Long for Each Other
Throughout human history we have lived in groups and families. This is by design from God. “It is not good that man should be alone.” (Genesis 2.18) God wasn’t talking about super bowl parties. He wants us to help each other find God. We are meant for Communion. Brethren, God is my witness, how I…
Read MoreEternal Union
It is easy to talk about forgiveness when it doesn’t matter. Too often I hear, “Sure I forgive them. God will take get them. I don’t have to.” I’m sorry to tell you, this is not forgiveness. This is vengeance. The problem isn’t now. The problem comes later when we are eternally together. There are…
Read MoreCommon Life
In every Divine Liturgy we proclaim our common life in Christ when we pray, “Let us commend ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.” We do not commend our unison lives to Christ. We commend our life, singular, to Christ. That should mean something. Brethren, let any one who thinks…
Read MoreTo Convert or Not to Convert
Are you searching for a Church to attend? Maybe you have come across this blog searching about Orthodox Christianity. Maybe you are already Orthodox but reading this blog because you have a friend who is searching. Maybe you are considering becoming Orthodox. Maybe not. Brethren, do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah,…
Read MoreSpiritual Maturity
There is an old joke that says, “Everything I needed to know, I learned in kindergarten.” It is a joke because even teenagers know they didn’t know enough after kindergarten to ‘get along’ in the world. How much is enough? High school? College? It isn’t about learning. It is about maturity. If all we needed…
Read MoreSeparation is Death
It’s just one Sunday. I’ll go to Church next week. Weeks become months. Months become years. The next thing you know, you can’t remember the last time you were in Church. Sound familiar? May as well be true if you just replace attendance with Holy Communion. The Lord said to his disciples, “Let not your…
Read MoreRemain or Depart
Free will has been given by God to every human being. We are free to choose to do good or to do evil. We are free to love God or that hate Him. We are free to remain close to Him, or to depart far from Him. The choice is ours to make. Not everyone…
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