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Grace, Moralism and Unmoral Christianity

05/25/2018

By Fr. Aidan Kimel, December 20, 2014 In his recent blog article “The Un-moral Christian,” Fr Stephen Freeman criticizes the tendency to reduce the Christian life to obedience to moral rules. “The nature of the Christian life,” he declares, “is not rightly described as the adherence to an external set of norms and standards, even if those norms and standards are described as being ‘from God.’ The ‘unmoral’ life of Christians is a different mode

You’re Not Doing Better

02/09/2018

By Father Stephen Freeman “I’m doing better.” Over the years I’m sure I’ve heard this many times in confession. I’ve also heard, “I’m not doing so well.” These are timely updates, personal measures and reports on the state of spiritual lives. And they are wrong. You are not doing better. You are not doing worse. In truth, we don’t know how we’re doing. Only God knows. But we have internalized a cultural narrative and made

Feast of the Holy Spirit. Life in the Early Church

06/05/2017

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ”Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:37-38 For the last week of these reflections that have brought us through

Thursday of the 2nd Week of Pascha. Jesus is My _ and My _

04/27/2017

Eight days later, His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in My side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered him, ”My Lord and my God!” John 20:26-28 (From the Gospel

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Pascha. One of Christ’s Greatest Gifts to Us One of the Greatest Gifts You Can Give Yourself

04/25/2017

And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ”Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. John 20:22-23 (From the Gospel Reading at the Divine Liturgy on Thomas Sunday) Christ is Risen! In yesterday’s reflection, we examined the sacrament of ordination, which has its genesis in John 20:22. In the very next verse,

Holy Wednesday. Holy Unction and Our Need for Spiritual Cleansing

04/12/2017

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside His garments, and girded Himself with a towel. Then He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, “Lord, do

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent. Confession: The Manner by Which We Examine Ourselves

03/16/2017

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 (From the Epistle of the Vesperal Liturgy Holy Thursday Morning) Our

The Tenth Day of Christmas. A Spiritual Inventory

01/03/2017

Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. -Matthew 3:5-6 (Gospel from Royal Hours of Epiphany) Christ is born! Glorify Him! St. John the Forerunner was known as the Baptist, because he was baptizing people in the River Jordan. In the Jewish faith, one entered the faith through the ritual of circumcision. Periodically thereafter, people

55 Maxims for Weekly Meditation, by Father Thomas Hopko

10/29/2014

SUNDAY 1. Be always with Christ and trust God in everything 2. Pray as you can, not as you think you must 3. Have a keepable rule of prayer done by discipline 4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times each day 5. Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied 6. Make some prostrations when you pray 7. Eat good foods in moderation and fast on fasting days MONDAY 8. Practice silence, inner

LENT IN OUR LIFE: “TAKING IT SERIOUSLY” (Part I)

03/18/2013

Now these questions must be asked: How can we apply [Lent] to our lives? What could be not only a nominal but a real impact of Lent on our existence? This existence (do we need to recall it) is very different from the one people led when all these services, hymns, canons, and prescriptions were composed and established. One lived then in a relatively small, mainly rural community within one organically Orthodox world; the very

Archive

Grace, Moralism and Unmoral Christianity

You’re Not Doing Better

Feast of the Holy Spirit. Life in the Early Church

Thursday of the 2nd Week of Pascha. Jesus is My _ and My _

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Pascha. One of Christ’s Greatest Gifts to Us One of the Greatest Gifts You Can Give Yourself

Holy Wednesday. Holy Unction and Our Need for Spiritual Cleansing

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent. Confession: The Manner by Which We Examine Ourselves

The Tenth Day of Christmas. A Spiritual Inventory

55 Maxims for Weekly Meditation, by Father Thomas Hopko

LENT IN OUR LIFE: “TAKING IT SERIOUSLY” (Part I)

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