The coronavirus presents a significant threat. While we do not know exactly how dangerous it is, we know enough to not take it lightly. Currently, it seems to have a death rate greater than the flu, at 2%. Even if it remains at 2% or lowers down to 1%, due its infectious nature, we risk a significant loss of life around the world. This is especially true if people can be reinfected by it, which now appears to be the... Read more
One of the more interesting events presented in the Gospels is when Jesus met with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. Tradition records her name as St. Photina. She, likewise, is remembered as being a great martyr (executed with various companions by Nero) and as being an Equal to the Apostles. It is her role as Equal of the Apostles which is rather interesting. Not only was she a woman known for her evangelism, she was also a Samaritan, making... Read more
Scripture shows us that the God-Man, Jesus, the Logos become flesh, has appeared, and continues to appear, to his creation in a variety of forms. First, it gives us the various Theophanies in the Tanakh. Here, it is the pre-incarnate Logos coming to and reaching out to humanity (especially the people of Israel). Then there is Jesus living out his historical mission. Likewise, there is the glory of the Transfigured Jesus (which was seen before his death and resurrection); in... Read more
In the Byzantine Catholic calendar, the Great Fast, Lent, starts with right after Forgiveness Vespers on the evening of Cheesefare Sunday. It is called Cheesefare Sunday because traditionally it would be the last day the faithful would eat dairy or egg products until Easter (they had already given up meat on the previous Sunday). The focus is not on the fast (though it is a part of what is being contemplated), but the spirit of humility and mercy which is... Read more
We all need to take care of ourselves. Leisure and rest are necessary parts of our life. We must not overburden ourselves with work, for that will only lead us to suffering a break down. Spiritual masters from Siddhartha the Buddha to St. Anthony the Great have not only come to this conclusion, they taught it to their disciples. [1] Thus, in Ecclesiastes, we are told there is a time and place for everything, including rest: For everything there is... Read more
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers often provides monastic wisdom which can and should be adapted and applied universally. Obviously, the foundation of that wisdom came from the developing monastic communities which had to learn how to live together. As those communities had needs which differed from secular communities, not all they taught needs to be followed by all. Nonetheless, the basic lessons they learned were universal and the insight the spiritual masters attained can be and should be heard... Read more
Epistemologically, it is difficult for us to prove we know what happens outside of ourselves. It is, likewise, challenging, if not impossible, to prove that there is really something “outside ourselves.” If we do not want to be bogged down with such a foundational concern, we must rely upon what we perceive through our senses and infer from our mind. That is, we must accept some things on faith. Only by giving up total skepticism, which itself is self-defeating, can... Read more
On the Byzantine Catholic calendar, Meatfare Sunday, the Sunday which commemorates the Second Coming of Christ and the Great and Dreaded Tribunal of the Last Judgment,comes to remind us that the Great Fast is more than about fasting, it is also a time for alms, a time to increase our charity towards our neighbor. Fasting without charity does little to no good. Whether we eat or not, by that act alone, we do not find ourselves any closer or further... Read more
Lumen Gentium presented one of the most important statements of the Church offered at an ecumenical council: This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Saviour, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as “the pillar and mainstay of the truth”. This Church constituted and organized in the world... Read more
One of the most important developments of Vatican Council II is its promotion of religious liberty. In Nostra Aetate, the council declared that religious discrimination, among other forms of discrimination, is far from the mind of Christ: The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, this... Read more
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