Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I shall
By Fr. Antony Hughes, April, 2003 A Holy Week Reflection Our God comes in secret… Olivier Clement The Christian God reveals himself in secret, in humility. His birth was in the quiet anonymity of a cave for animals. Few came to worship him. Only the humble who had been seeking and who would be able to recognize the Humble One found their way with divine assistance to the manger. He was born far from places of
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
By Fr John Breck, December 1, 2007 Thanksgiving is over and we are moving toward what one of our wise and dedicated priests refers to as “Getmas.” He is as frustrated and dismayed at what exuberant commercialism and American popular religion have done to Christmas as I am with the relentless efforts to transform our national feast of Thanksgiving into “Turkey Day.” These campaigns are insidious and they’ve been highly effective: God—the true God who
In the Old Testament Pentecost was the feast which occurred fifty days after Passover. As the Passover feast celebrated the exodus of the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt, so Pentecost celebrated God’s gift of the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the new covenant of the Messiah, the Passover event takes on its new meaning as the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, the “exodus” of men from this sinful world to
From Pascha to Pentecost, by Protopresbyter Dr. George D. Dragas The Pentecostal Period. The word, Pentecost means “the fiftieth” and is used to designate the great event of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Epiphoitesis) upon the Apostles and the Church on the 50th day after the Resurrection of Christ, just ten days after His Ascension into Heaven. Before His Passion, the Lord spoke to his Disciples about the gift of the Holy Spirit, which
By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, January 7, 2019 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, for He was before me.’ I myself did not know Him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that He might be revealed to Israel.” And John
By Michael Haldas Thoughts on Us and the Holy Spirit, June 17, 2016 “If Jesus had stayed on earth, his physical presence would have limited the spread of the Good News, because physically he could be in only one place at a time. After Christ was taken up into heaven, He would be spiritually present everywhere through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent so that God would be with and within His followers…”
In the Old Testament Pentecost was the feast which occurred fifty days after Passover. As the Passover feast celebrated the exodus of the Israelites from the slavery of Egypt, so Pentecost celebrated God’s gift of the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the new covenant of the Messiah, the Passover event takes on its new meaning as the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, the “exodus” of men from this sinful world to
Why did Paul come to the subtle but crucial understanding of the limited and dangerous possibilities of law/requirements? Probably because Paul himself had been a man of the law, and he saw that it led him to “breathing threats to slaughter the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1). As he tells us in Philippians (3:4-6), Paul was a perfect law-abiding Pharisee: “As far as the Law can make you perfect, I was faultless,” he says. He seems
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