Daily Meditations Archives - Page 6 of 325

Recognizable Features of a Non-Authentic Christian Experience

02/14/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on July 30, 2021 Metropolitan Nikolaos (Hatzinikolaou) of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki An experience which isn’t genuine produces Christians who, instead of being saved within the Church, feel as though they should save the truth. Instead of discerning the face of Christ in our brother and sister Christians, we see opponents whom we must overcome, or we see ‘our own people’, who have to support our views. Instead of entrusting the state of our soul

His Name is Compassion

02/13/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, August 7, 2016 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (9:27-35) The two blind men said to him, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” Whether from desperation or from the well-spring of faith and deep understanding, they call him “Son of David,” in other words, Messiah. And they pray for mercy for the healing of their eyes. Still, mercy is like a virus.

Soul Talk

02/12/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 20, 2018 Everybody is familiar with the voice in their head. Sometimes it has the sound of a nagging argument, repeating, rehearsing endlessly to no good end. It can also be the voice of scolding, shaming us for some minor transgression while it consigns us to the lowest of the low. It is rarely a welcome presence in our lives. No one ever says, “You wouldn’t believe how wonderful the

FEAST DAY OF ST. HARALAMBOS, FEBRUARY 10

02/10/2024

Published by Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis on February 10, 2022 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to satisfy the one who enlisted him. An athlete is

Deep Discipleship

02/09/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, October 2, 2016 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke. (6:31-36) The teaching of Jesus is radical. We are not just to be nice, we are to be like God. This leaves us with only one option and that is to get real about being disciples of the Lord’s teaching and to acknowledge the reality of his presence in our midst. “It seems that

The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates (The Commander)

02/08/2024

February 8, 2013 The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates came from the city of Euchaita in Asia Minor. He was endowed with many talents, and was handsome in appearance. For his charity God enlightened him with the knowledge of Christian truth. For his bravery St Theodore was appointed military commander [stratelatos] in the city of Heraclea, where he combined his military service with preaching the Gospel among the pagans subject to him. His gift of persuasion,

How to Recognize the Authentic Christian Experience

02/07/2024

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on July 29, 2021 Metropolitan Nikolaos (Hatzinikolaou) of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki What are the characteristic features of the authentic Christian experience? We can begin by looking at the end of the first chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John, the section regarding the call of the disciples. This passage is of particular interest, because it’s an image of how Christ calls each Christian separately and what, in the end, the grace and love

Photios, Patriarch of Constantinople

02/06/2024

Reading As for the thrice-blessed Photius, the great and most resplendent Father and teacher of the Church, the Confessor of the Faith and Equal to the Apostles, he lived during the years of the emperors Michael (the son of Theophilus), Basil the Macedonian, and Leo his son. He was the son of pious parents, Sergius and Irene, who suffered for the Faith under the Iconoclast Emperor Theophilus; he was also a nephew of Saint Tarasius,

The Importance of Failure

02/05/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 16, 2020 Everybody fails. Imagine sitting in a classroom and being told at the beginning of the term that everyone in the class will fail. There would probably be a dash to the registrar’s office in order to drop the class. But, imagine again, that dropping the class is not an option. You are going to take the class and you are going to fail. Will you listen to the

Presentation of Christ to the Temple

02/02/2024

Introduction This feast, celebrated on February 2, is known in the Orthodox Church as The Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Another name for the feast is The Meeting of our Lord. Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians call the feast, The Purification of the Holy Virgin. About 450 AD in Jerusalem, people began the custom of holding lighted candles during the Divine Liturgy of this feast day. Therefore, some churches in the West refer to