Abraham Archives - Page 6 of 9

Mary: The Blessing of All Generations

08/07/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 7, 2019 n my childhood, it was not unusual to hear someone ask, “Who are your people?” It was a semi-polite, Southernism designed to elicit essential information about a person’s social background. The assumption was that you, at best, could only be an example of your “people.” It ignored the common individualism of the wider culture, preferring the more family or clan-centered existence of an older time. It was possible

The Sins of a Nation

02/07/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 26, 2015 Can a nation ever sin? If so, how can it be forgiven? The stories and prophetic writings of the Old Testament are replete with examples of national sin. There are certainly stories of God dealing with individuals, but, on the whole, His attention seems to be directed to Israel and other nations as a whole. The promises and pledges are made to a collective people and the chastisement

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 12

01/15/2020

By Fr. Maximos (Constas) It seems clear that the very practice of the Jesus Prayer reflects the Biblical teaching of the nature of personal names, and especially of the Divine Name. We all know that the name is closely linked to the person that bears it so that to invoke the name is to invoke the person who bears it. So it’s logical that when there is a change of life there is also a

The Family of Christ

12/27/2019

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, December 29, 2018 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it; and I advanced in

On Being Perpetually Distracted

08/20/2019

Article by Ron Rolheiser (March 2019 eNews) There’s a story in the Hindu tradition that runs something like this: God and a man are walking down a road. The man asks God: “What is the world like?” God answers: “I’d like to tell you, but my throat is parched. I need a cup of cold water. If you can go and get me a cup of cold water, I’ll tell you what the world is like.”

Why the Orthodox Honor Mary

08/12/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 30, 2015 The most difficult part of my Orthodox experience to discuss with the non-Orthodox is the place and role of the Mother of God in the Church and in my life. It is, on the one hand, deeply theological and even essential to a right understanding of the Orthodox faith, while, on the other hand, being intensely personal beyond the bounds of conversation. I am convinced, as well, that

ON A RESOLUTE AND SUSTAINED PURPOSE

07/16/2019

IF you wish to save your soul and win eternal life, arise from your lethargy, make the sign of the Cross and say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Faith comes not through pondering but through action. Not words and speculation but experience teaches us what God is. To let in fresh air we have to open a window; to get tanned we must go

The Second Monday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! Job the Prophet, Holy Week, Holy Friday, Great Friday, Savior, Septuagint, Cross, Satan

05/06/2019

The righteous Job (whose name means “persecuted”), God’s faithful servant, was the perfect image of every virtue. The son of Zarah and Bossorha (Job 42), Job was a fifth-generation descendent of Abraham. He was a truthful, righteous, patient, and pious man who abstained from every evil thing. Job was very rich and blessed by God in all things, as was no other son of Ausis (his country, which lay between Idoumea and Arabia). However, divine

Why Has God Created Us Tragically Free?

10/11/2018

In many ancient traditions, as still today in India, salvation is understood as dissolution into the vastness of the universe, re-absorption into an impersonal divinity; but the Fathers insist that humanity must ‘personalize’ the universe; not save itself by means of the universe, but save it by communicating grace to it. And all the while human beings must also humbly decipher the ‘Bible of the world’; they elevate themselves above all life in order to

Why the Orthodox Honor Mary (Part I)

08/01/2018

By Father Stephen Freeman, August 1, 2016 Today (August 1) marks the beginning of the Fast of the Dormition, the annual preparation for the feast of the Falling Asleep of the Virgin Mary. I offer this article as reflection. The most difficult part of my Orthodox experience to discuss with the non-Orthodox is the place and role of the Mother of God in the Church and in my life. It is, on the one hand,

Archive

Mary: The Blessing of All Generations

The Sins of a Nation

Prayer of the Heart in an Age of Technology and Distraction, Part 12

The Family of Christ

On Being Perpetually Distracted

Why the Orthodox Honor Mary

ON A RESOLUTE AND SUSTAINED PURPOSE

The Second Monday after Pascha. CHRISTOS ANESTI! CHRIST IS RISEN! Job the Prophet, Holy Week, Holy Friday, Great Friday, Savior, Septuagint, Cross, Satan

Why Has God Created Us Tragically Free?

Why the Orthodox Honor Mary (Part I)

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