The faith is to be lived out. To do so, we are expected to act with prudence. We should not expect God to do everything for us. That would love us nothing to do. If we believed God should do everything for us and so we do nothing, there would be no purpose for us, no reason for us to live. God can and will often help us in various ways, but more often than not, it will be through... Read more
Christ is Born! Glorify Him! The birth of Christ is celebrated around the world with people giving gifts to each other. Those gifts do not have to be material goods, for many, such as children, give of themselves to their loved ones, promising some deed or another which they think will make their loved one happy. Indeed, the best gifts always come out of love as the giver tries to give the best gift they can; when they do so,... Read more
The last chapter of Sergius Bulgakov’s book, The Eucharistic Sacrifice, is the most intriguing part of the book, both, because of what he said, but also because of what he did not say in it. He left it to the reader to explore and ponder the implications of his ideas for themselves. In the chapter, he presents the way in which he sees Mary, Jesus’ mother, is connected to the celebration of the eucharist. While the theme itself is provocative,... Read more
Tradition is important, but we must understand tradition is meant to be a living tradition, one which leaves us open to the prompting of the Spirit. Tradition is not meant to be treated as a dead letter where the expression of the faith is said to be unchangeable. We are not expected to live exactly like those who lived before us; our situation, our social context is different from theirs. The faith is more than following a list of propositions... Read more
Our family heritage is important. Who we are, at least in part, comes from those who came before us, from our ancestors. We are their heirs. We inherit their legacy, both the good and the bad, and with it, the responsibility which comes from that legacy. Our ancestors are important to us. We cannot cut our ties from them. Even if we are not proud of all the things which they did, we should honor them for the good which... Read more
What before was abnormal is becoming normal. What was once unusual, such as having warm temperatures, thunderstorms, and even tornadoes, in the midst of winter, is becoming a common occurrence. But, in the future, it not only will become more common, but much more dramatic in effect, as should be expected with the raising of the overall temperature of the Earth. Not only do we have scientists warning us of what is to come, they show us the changes which... Read more
When at church, or when we are meditating at home, all kinds of stray thoughts often go through our head. Whether or not they are wholesome, they can be distracting, as they have us think of things other than what we are doing. We should not let this bother us. If we don’t pay attention to them, they will leave us as quickly as they came. This is why it is best that we ignore them when we can. If... Read more
Jesus tells us he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (cf. Rev. 22:13). In this revelation, we are given a paradoxical truth: the archon (the beginning) and the eschaton (the end) are one. The future is connected to the past, eschatology can be engaged through archeology. When we have a way to examine the past, we also have a way to engage and understand the future. Since our ascertainment of the past is limited, what... Read more
The historical time before Christ was a time of preparation; grace was seeded throughout the world, and those who accepted it, those who integrated what grace and revelation they had been given into their lives, became great women and men of God. They did not have all that we have, and so we should understand them and their lives within the context which they were lived. They could get things wrong. They could and did misunderstand God and God’s intentions.... Read more
Two different, but similar, temptations turn us away from the needs of the present moment. One is to have us dream about some utopian future, thinking we can and will produce the perfect society. Such futurism, of course, is denied by those who feel the world and everything in it is falling apart, becoming worse by the day, so that instead of looking to the future, such people look to the past for their ideal society, creating a romantic vision... Read more
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