Life is a gift of God. No amount of possessions, however abundant, can make it greater or give it security. The notion that life consists in possessions, in ‘having’ (the constant requirement of more), is cut in this pericope by the understanding that life cannot be secured by possessions, that existence is a gift outside human control. Humans have an …
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Sunday of Luke: The Gadarene Demoniac Lk 8:26-39
The Lord’s entry into the country of the Gadarenes was a testimony that He came into this world, to seek and save the darkened and fallen nature of humanity, because the situation cannot remain like this. Humans should not live with a fearful and darkened heart, but in joy, in love and in the light. The light is to know, …
Read More »“God has visited his people!” 3rd Sunday of Luke 7:11-16
The large crowd in today’s gospel were inspired to say: “God has visited his people!”(Lk 7:16). Now, we can say that there is only One who exists within us and around us, who exercises a different authority over the mystery of life, because “God has visited his people!” An insightful person will say: we are dying. But we can say, “God …
Read More »THE LAW OF LOVE: MEDITATIONS ON THE ROYAL BANQUET – LUKE 14:16-24
Why do people cut, leave, or distance themselves away from the Church and from God? What is the logic behind this? Is it because they have found something more beautiful than God’s love, something more spiritual or holy? Or is it the fact that they allow the passions and sins of others within the Church to blur their view of …
Read More »1st Sunday of Matthew (All Saints), Synaxis of the 12 Apostles
Today we celebrate the Sunday of all Saints and the synaxis or gathering of the twelve Apostles. Our Church honors the memory of the Holy Apostles in order to show us visible examples of holiness, which we can follow, so that we can also enter like them into the Kingdom of Heaven, to be partakers of Beauty. The saints were …
Read More »Book Review: Gregory Palamas. The Triads.
Gregory Palamas. The Triads. Translated by Nicholas Gendle. London: SPCK, 1983. 172pp. Palamas’s treatise the Triads in Defence of the Holy Hesychasts is presented in this translation under six headings: Philosophy does not save; Apophatic theology as positive experience; The Hesychast method of prayer, and the transformation of the body; Deification in Christ; The uncreated glory; and Essence and energies …
Read More »TREASURY OF ORTHODOXY: Bishop Theophilos of Campania; LESSON 2 – ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TOWER
LESSON 2 – ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TOWER Q. Holy Elder, after the events pertaining to Noah and the Flood, what was the next crucial turning point for humankind according to what our Faith asserts? A. My beloved child, since multitudes of people came into existence and repopulated the earth, once again the same problems arose, with people turning …
Read More »Book Review – Creation & The Patriarchal Histories
Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Genesis Author: Fr Patrick H. Reardon Publisher: Conciliar Press (2008) The intention of this particular book is not to serve as a purely exegetical work on Scripture in the traditional sense, but to serve as an accompaniment to the Scriptures. It does not aim to spoon feed the reader, but rather to help …
Read More »3rd Sunday of Lent: The Veneration of the Holy Cross (Mk 8:34-9:1; Heb 4:14-5:6)
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Ps 22:1; cf. Matt 27:46). These were the words Jesus cried out at about the ninth hour while He was crucified on the cross. These words were echoed in the Psalms by the prophet David. Taken by themselves, these words could be interpreted as an expression of despair. How could the …
Read More »THE IMAGE OF THE SUN IN ST GREGORY PALAMAS
Introduction The purpose of this article is to explore St Gregory Palamas’ use of the analogy of the sun in his work The One Hundred and Fifty Chapters[1] in order to assess its value within the context of his exposition of the various doctrinal themes covered therein. Focusing on those chapters which express the sun analogy, the article will discuss …
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ModeOfLife Become love as God exhorts us, for this is the true starting point for changing your life and the world. For it is love that will bring respect, justice and equity into the world, not our personal opinion of what justice or equity is.