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Why We Forgive

10/21/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 14, 2016  There are many ways to think about forgiveness, not all of them true or helpful. It is easily the most emotionally and psychologically difficult aspect of the Christian life revealing both the power of trauma as well as the tenacity of lingering memories. The directness of Christ’s commandments (“forgive your enemies”) and the consequences of ignoring them (“if you do not forgive others neither will your heavenly Father

A Generous Repentance

08/26/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 19, 2014 I have learned over time to expect cultural expressions of the Orthodox faith that are mentioned nowhere in books and articles. Many of these surround major life events and their sacraments: Baptism, Marriage, Funerals. And so I was not surprised when the family of a recently deceased Romanian in my community called me for help giving away his clothes. I was told that it needed to be done

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! The Third Friday of Pascha: Can You Forgive Someone Else’s Enemies?

05/24/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 25, 2020  I have written from time to time about the concept expressed in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, “Forgive everyone for everything.” It is a quote taken from the fictional Elder Zosima, but it is certainly a sentiment well within the bounds of Orthodox Christian thought. I have been challenged from time to time by people arguing that we cannot forgive those who have not sinned against us – that this right

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent: The Poor, Debts & Your Enemies: Learning to Forgive

04/08/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 12, 2017  He who has pity on the poor makes a debtor of God. (Prov. 19:17) Jesus told a story about a man with a huge debt. He owed it to his master and was unable to pay. When he was dragged before his master, he begged for mercy. Strangely, the master was so moved by the man’s begging that he forgave him the entire debt. This same man, Jesus

The Fifth Friday of Great Lent: Forgiveness – Give an Enemy a Cup of Cold Water

03/31/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 10, 2021  There is a story related in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov about an old woman who was quite wicked. She dies and goes to hell to the great distress of her guardian angel. The angel searches for any possible good deed to plead on her behalf and finds a rotten onion – something the old woman had given to a beggar. The angel takes the onion and, with it, begins to

Why We Forgive

10/04/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 14, 2016  There are many ways to think about forgiveness, not all of them true or helpful. It is easily the most emotionally and psychologically difficult aspect of the Christian life revealing both the power of trauma as well as the tenacity of lingering memories. The directness of Christ’s commandments (“forgive your enemies”) and the consequences of ignoring them (“if you do not forgive others neither will your heavenly Father

Our Common Enemy. Peace of Heart.

06/24/2021

Our Common Enemy It is not our persecutors and detractors who are our enemies By Abbot Tryphon, November 30, 2019 Sometimes the humiliation we experience at the hands of others can be daunting, to say the least. Those moments when we are confronted with hatred, sometimes based on the jealousy of another, are often the most difficult to bear, for we know the origins of the abuse, and naturally want to strike back at the

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent. Your Faith Will Make You Some Enemies

03/20/2017

Jesus said to His Disciples, ”If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will

A Generous Repentance

01/11/2017

By Fr. Stephen Freeman  I have learned over time to expect cultural expressions of the Orthodox faith that are mentioned nowhere in books and articles. Many of these surround major life events and their sacraments: Baptism, Marriage, Funerals. And so I was not surprised when the family of a recently deceased Romanian in my community called me for help giving away his clothes. I was told that it needed to be done before the end

God and Caesar (Part V): The Love of Enemies & The King and His Fool

01/13/2015

The Love of Enemies The theologians of violence forget the Beatitudes. The theologians of non-violence forget that history consists of tragedies. But amongst the violence of history, it is the duty of Christians to manifest the love of enemies, which is the strength of Christ himself. The love of enemies, exercised in the most extreme circumstances, is the only cure for our political neurosis, the desire to escape one’s own death while projecting it on

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