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Pentecost Sunday: Pentecost Is Not the Church’s Birthday

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 28, 2018 It is a commonplace in some circles to celebrate Pentecost as the Church’s “Birthday.” It is well-intentioned, perhaps even true in some sense, but tends to render the Church as something it is not. St. Paul calls the Church the “pillar and ground of truth.” The sort of institutional concept that would mark some date in 33 AD as a founding date (like the founding of Rome or

The Poetry of God

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, May 14, 2015 Whoever wants to become a Christian must first become a poet. – St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia, St. John of Damascus, St. Isaac of Syria, St. Ephrem Edessa St. Porphyrios made this statement in the context of love and suffering: That’s what it is! You must suffer. You must love and suffer–suffer for the one you love. Love makes effort for the loved one. She runs all through the night; she