Icons are often described, quite properly, as windows into heaven, because they reveal to us elements of the kingdom of God. They show us the spiritualized, glorified form of the saints depicted in them, as well as the spiritual reality which lay behind various events of salvation history. This is why they, though they often are seen as being unrealistic in relation to empirical standards, they are said as being realistic according to spiritual ones. They give us a glimpse... Read more
It shouldn’t surprise me, but it still does. Republicans use religion, especially Christianity, as a way to suggest they are being upright and moral while what they do undermines many of the basic moral principles of the Christian faith they claim to follow. This was in full force with the House Republicans when they prayed that the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” would be passed in the House. As they knew they did not need to pray, that they already... Read more
We are born in this world with a kind of spiritual blindness; that is, we either are unable, or have difficulty perceiving spiritual realities. Our focus and attention is mostly on the material world, the realm of being which experience with our empirical senses. This is why some think that only material reality exists, because it is all they can perceive, however, if they contemplated it philosophically, they would see that we engage non-material truths throughout their lives, and as... Read more
When worship God in the Divine Liturgy (or the Mass, as the West calls it, a name which comes from the dismissal at the end of the worship service), we are participating in and experiencing in the kingdom of God. During the service, we partake of communion, not merely for our own individual benefit, but to be transformed and become more Christ-like as we open ourselves to Christ and realize our unity with him and with everyone else who likewise... Read more
We are called to know ourselves, for in knowing ourselves, we will come to know God. Why is this so? Because we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are, of course, not God by nature, and so God transcends us, but we represent God in such a way that if we know ourselves, we will be able to know something about God. It is important to keep both God’s transcendence and God’s representations in creation, including... Read more
Christ taught Christians to embrace selfless love, a love which would lead them to be concerned about the welfare of their neighbor; that is, they should not be self-absorbed, looking out only for themselves. I feel, sadly, that this part of the Christian message, one which makes Christianity a religion which follows Christ, has been lost to too many Christians. They only accept those aspects of Christian faith which gives them something, such as being saved, but they do not... Read more
Persecution, though never a good in and of itself, can sometimes inspire the church to change, and change for the better. When it happens, Christians should examine themselves and see if there is something which they have done, something which is not necessary for them to do, that has caused someone to react harshly against them. That is, it could be their attitude, and the way they have treated others which has caused pushback against them. Even if that is... Read more
The absolute truth, the truth which can be described as the divine reality from which all things come to be, is one. That is, God is one, indeed, the One. Nonetheless, our knowledge of the absolute truth, of the truth of God, is not as the absolute truth as it is in itself, for that truth infinitely transcends our ability to comprehend it. Our knowledge, our experience of that truth is through various ways which we are able to apprehend... Read more
When I heard Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was chosen to become pope, I, like many, was extremely surprised. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States. He is a native English speaker, whose cultural background, whose political challenges growing up, are similar to my own (with the differences being the time in which he was born). While he did not stay in the United States, because his missionary spirit, the spirit which he promoted in... Read more
Nationalism can have a few different connotations, some which are positive, and some which are not. It’s the negative ones which have taken over and become uses to represent all forms of nationalism, which is why, when reading documents in the past, we must be careful and not assume the negative kind is involved, especially if the nationalism in question is engaged in the defense and protection of one group of people from another. We can find Christians embracing both... Read more
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