SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The End of Comfortable Christianity When we remember the holy martyrs, ancient or modern, we see one and the same thing: “I have no other God than the Lord Jesus Christ with His Father and the Holy Spirit. I honor the authorities, but I don’t deify them; I obey the law, but I don’t grovel; I respect everyone, but
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 19, 2016 Thinking is among the most misleading things in the modern world, or, to be more precise, thinking about thinking is misleading. For a culture that puts such a great emphasis on materiality, our thinking about thought is decidedly spooky. The philosophy underlying our strangely-constructed modernity is called nominalism (of which there are many formal varieties). It’s imaginary construct of the world consists of decidedly separate objects, united only by our
By Fr. John Breck, June 1, 2005 Psalm 67/68 is considered by most biblical scholars to be the most difficult of all psalms to interpret.[1] The current consensus holds that the psalm was an ancient cultic hymn, originally recited in an autumn festival by the covenant-community of Israel. Its theme celebrates the coming of God to His people, from Sinai to Zion, in order to actualize in their midst His past mighty works of salvation. This
Today is the last day of Pascha for Christians of the Byzantine tradition. Each major feast on the Church calendar has an Apodosis that comes, normally, at the end of the octave. The hymns for Matins, the hours, Vespers, Compline, and the Divine Liturgy are repeated as on the first day of the feast. For Pascha, however, the Leave-Taking is on the vigil of the Ascension, but, with the exception of the changed lectionary, the
By Fr John Breck, April 1, 2009 The final Old Testament reading for Holy Saturday vespers—Daniel 3:1-57, the story of the three young men in the fiery furnace in Babylon—is composite, drawing upon both Aramaic and Greek (Septuagint) traditions. The latter modifies and amplifies a detail the Church’s patristic witnesses consider essential. That small detail is a typological image that announces the primary theme of Orthodox Pascha or Easter: the descent of Christ into the
This weekend our nation observes Memorial Day – a date on the civil calendar when the nation does (and should) honor the men and women who have given their lives in defense of our nation – of us – during their tours of service in the various branches of our USA Armed Forces. They have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. They have died so that the world might be
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, October 12, 2016 Noise. The sound of the world around us generally qualifies as little more than noise. Almost nothing advertises itself as unimportant or something to be attended to later. The insistent cries of everything often raise the demands for our attention to a deafening pitch. “Do this! Read this! Buy this! Remember this! Believe this!” The world constantly presents itself to us as though it were teetering on the
SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Reversing Judgmental Thoughts Since the enemy watches you constantly, waiting for an opportunity to sow evil in you, be doubly watchful over yourself, lest you fall in the nets spread for you. As soon as he shows you some fault in your neighbor, hasten to repel this thought, lest it take root in you and grow. Cast it out, so
Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 9, 2021 Faith. Deep and true faith means being open to what the truth turns out to be as we grow and learn and come more fully to understand. We come to know most fully through an experience of the Living God just like so many did when encountering the Crucified One risen from the dead. In the journey of faith we must be willing to
By Fr John Breck, May 1, 2007 Since the recent publication and popularization of the Gospel of Judas, it has been fashionable to look on this disciple either as a victim of circumstance or as a hero, blessed by Jesus to set the stage for His condemnation. Aside from resting on bad exegesis, this interpretation ignores a basic truth about Jesus’ incarnation and His saving death. The so-called Gospel of Judas burst on the popular scene over
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