Kingdom of God Archives - Page 6 of 10

Thoughts on Morality and Transformation. Thoughts on the Paradox of Grief for Christians

10/02/2019

By Michael Haldas Thoughts on Morality and Transformation, June 7, 2016 “It’s all about becoming, not being; it’s about transformation of ourselves and our restoration to holiness, not making God keep a bargain with us to give us what we want or expect. This is because each one of us has a different complex of illnesses, and we respond in different ways to the various spiritual, therapeutic regimens available to us in the Church.” (Abbot

Praying with the Entire Church

08/08/2019

“O you apostles, assembled here from the ends of the earth, bury my body: And You, O my Son and my God, receive my spirit” (Exapostilarion of Dormition of the Theotokos) To be a genuine Orthodox Christian is to share in the joy of fellowship gathered around the holy Mother of God, Mary the ever-virgin one. Yet in America a hesitancy arises even with the Church among the faithful. What is so normal and self-evident

An Artist’s Eye and the Kingdom of God

06/28/2019

Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 29, 2015 Eyes they have but do not see. I have a daughter who is an artist. Her art is a gift that eludes me. The wonder is not so much in the skill of her hands but in her eyes. For having watched this phenomenon grow up and mature, I am certain of one thing: she sees the world in a way I do not. It is not so much that she sees

The Seventh Thursday after Pascha. Silence, Awareness, and Contemplation

06/13/2019

Stand diligently at the gate of the heart. —St. Philotheos The practice of stillness is full of joy and beauty. —Evagrius By the grace of creation and redemption, there is a grounding union between God and the human person. In the depths of this ground, the “between” cannot be perceived, for it is completely porous to the Divine Presence. Indeed, there is more Presence than preposition. While this is the simplest and most fundamental fact

The Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

06/06/2019

Jesus did not live with his disciples after his resurrection as he had before his death. Filled with the glory of his divinity, he appeared at different times and places to his people, assuring them that it was he, truly alive in his risen and glorified body. To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). It

The Thirty-Ninth Day of Great Lent. Approach to Holy Week

04/18/2019

Holy Week in the Eastern Orthodox Church institutes the sanctity of the whole calendar year of the Church. Its center of commemorations and inspiration is Easter wherein the glorified Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated. Every Sunday is dedicated in the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Resurrection of the Lord. One hundred days also are dedicated to Easter, 50 before it for preparation, and another 50 after it for commemorating the glorification of the Lord.

The Nineteenth Day of Great Lent. Good News – Your Debt is Being Cancelled

03/29/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 27, 2016 Recent conversations on the blog have bounced around the imagery of debt in the Scriptures. Contemporary Protestant thought often likes to express the notion of a “sin debt.” The idea runs that God’s righteousness and justice have proper demands. When we fail to keep the commandments, we create a debt for which God’s justice demands payment. Christ’s innocent self-offering on the Cross is seen as the payment for

“Reign” or “Realm”? (Part II)

01/15/2019

There is ongoing tension between what has been accomplished and what is still to be done, between the “already” and the “not yet.” The “end time” is already present; the Kingdom is in our midst in the person and work of the Son of God. Yet its fulfillment lies in the future, when the Lord’s reign will summon all people to a final judgment, and lead the “righteous” into that eternal Realm in which God

“Reign” or “Realm”? (Part I)

01/08/2019

For a very long time interpreters of the New Testament have puzzled over the Greek expression basileia tou theou, which can be translated in various ways. The most common, and most literal, are “the Kingdom of God” and “the Reign of God.” As Jesus used the phrase (in his native Aramaic, subsequently translated into Greek), the basic idea is “lordship”: full dominion and authority over creation and human life. The difference between Kingdom and Reign,

Witnesses to Silence and Stillness (II)

10/10/2018

Witnesses to Silence and Stillness (II) In a hospital room a number of years ago, a close friend lay dying. For years he had rebelled against God and against his Orthodox faith, expressing that rebellion by indifference to everything connected with the Church. In the last years of his life he had come home. With the simplicity and openness of a child he now turned his face to God and prayed. You could see in

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Thoughts on Morality and Transformation. Thoughts on the Paradox of Grief for Christians

Praying with the Entire Church

An Artist’s Eye and the Kingdom of God

The Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

The Thirty-Ninth Day of Great Lent. Approach to Holy Week

The Nineteenth Day of Great Lent. Good News – Your Debt is Being Cancelled

“Reign” or “Realm”? (Part II)

“Reign” or “Realm”? (Part I)

Witnesses to Silence and Stillness (II)

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