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Christ is Born! Glorify Him! The First Day of Christmas!

By His Grace Bishop John Abdalah As Orthodox Christians, we greet one another with this confident exclamation during the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord. With this seasonal greeting we affirm that Jesus, who took on flesh and was born into our world, is indeed the Christ, and worthy of glorification. This greeting is unlike other seasonal greetings about being merry (Christmas), glad (tidings), or happy (holidays). Not that I have any trouble with

The Thirty-Second day of Christmas Advent. Giving and Receiving.

Melissa K. Tsongranis They shall not appear before the Lord empty handed; every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessings of the Lord your God which he has given you. – Deuteronomy 16:16-17 We are an indulgent society. If we want something, we get it.  We love receiving gifts—gifts for birthdays, gifts for holidays, gifts for jobs well done, and even gifts for no reason whatsoever. Sometimes, we even indulge by

The Thirtieth Day of Christmas Advent. Gifts in Silence.

Vasie-Leigh Andriotis As a person in the Facebook era, I am showered by daily “status” updates and photographs of my friends’ children.  There is such a great joy and anticipation when a child comes into the world or just your world.   Family and friends are so happy to see those new little faces that they have been anticipating.  It is hard to contain the excitement. It must have been unimaginable for Mary and Joseph, preparing

Gifts and Talents and the Road to Hell

By Father Stephen Freeman, January 19, 2015 At some point in my past, there was a survey used in parishes that was all the rage. It was a “gifts and talents” survey, designed to make everyone in the parish find their true ministry and to work together in fulfillment of St. Paul’s description of the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians. The key in these surveys was to determine precisely what gifts and talents someone

Great and Holy Friday. Condemned by a tree, Saved by the Tree

When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, ”It is finished”; and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:30 (Gospel of the Ninth Hour on Good Friday Morning) In Genesis, we read that God created the world in “seven days.” We also know that God’s time doesn’t move according to our concept of time. So, the world wasn’t created in seven “literal” days, meaning seven 24-hour periods of time. Specific things

Holy Thursday. Do THIS in REMEMBRANCE of Me

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My Body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent. Christ’s Hope for Us

Jesus said to His Disciples, “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them, that they may be one

The Thirtieth Day of Christmas Advent. The Gift of Christmas

By Theo Nicolakis The Christmas season is such a beautiful time of the year. Lights, candles, and cutout snowflakes begin to decorate our city’s streets. People begin to adorn their homes with the colors of red and green, wreaths, candles, and dazzling arrays of lights. These decorations even spill into our schools and businesses. That’s the Christmas season! That is the Christmas season? This past week, as I was speaking with one of my staff

Thirty-Eighth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: Other Gifts to Give

Meditation: Other Gifts to Give In addition to the gift of time, another great gift we can all give is friendship. A little girl said once, “I don’t have any gifts, I can’t sing, I can’t paint, and I know I can’t write poetry. I just don’t have any gifts!” “Yes, you do-it shines out all over you,” her mother said quickly. “You have one of the best gifts of all-the gift of friendship. You

The First Tuesday of Great Lent

God does not Need us, But He Longs to Shower us with Gifts God created Adam in the beginning, not because he needs the human race, but so that he might have a recipient of his generosity. Moreover, God commanded us to follow Christ, not because he has any need of our service, but because he wants to give us salvation. To follow the saviour is to share in salvation, just as to follow the