The Mother of God and the Mother of “Gods”
As we continue our jubilant πανήγυρις during these days following this great feast of the Church, alternately called the “Summer Pascha”, we recall not only the Virgin Mary’s finiteness as a mortal...
View ArticleHappy New Year!
Happy New Year! On September 1st, Orthodox Christians from around the world who follow the New Calendar ushered in the beginning of yet another ecclesiastical year, a day of joyful celebration and...
View ArticleO Paradox of Paradoxes! A Reflection on the Feast of the Holy Cross
Perhaps I am preaching to the choir when I say that the older I become, the more I come to see that our world is full of paradoxes. Contradictions of all sorts abound in our lives — between individuals...
View ArticleAre Orthodox Funerals Really Depressing? Resurrecting Positive Themes in the...
THE ISSUE AT HAND Within the corpus of liturgical services in the Eastern Church, no one rite would be expected to draw as thoroughly and vividly the stark contrast between death and resurrection as...
View ArticleAre Orthodox Funerals Really Depressing? Part 2
This is the second article in a 3-part series. Read Part 1 here. SEEKING OUT VIABLE SOLUTIONS In the modern funeral service, the canon for the dead is replete with imagery focusing on the holy martyrs,...
View ArticleAre Orthodox Funerals Really Depressing? Part 3, Final
This is the third article in a 3-part series. Read Part 1 and Part 2 here. The Rite of Anointing the Dead Another vital modification to the rite is the restoration of the baptismal and paschal vision,...
View ArticleThe Superiority of Being Over Doing
One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is Psalm 46 (45 LXX):10, which reads: “Be still, and know that I am God.” This brief but powerful assertion, applicable to virtually any age in history,...
View ArticleHoliday Feasting at God’s Table
How many of you recently have gone out to eat with your families? Holiday shoppers, especially on the weekends, will generally dine out because of the convenience, or simply to enjoy the festive...
View ArticleHappy New Me!
Happy New Me! Naturally, you might be thinking what sort of a peculiar wish this is that we make at the beginning of the New Year. We are all accustomed to exclaiming “Happy New Year!” as the clocks...
View ArticleWhen the Pray-er Becomes Prayer
Recently, I ran across a compelling quote from the pen of St. John Chrysostom, which I believe is very telling of the spiritual poverty people experience in our day and age. This spiritual poverty is a...
View ArticleHoly Lent: It’s All About the Joy, No Sadness (Part I)
I still recall the excitement I felt as a youth growing up in Boston (and even now as an adult!) when attending a professional sports event. Wearing the home jersey, the actual trip to the arena, the...
View ArticleHoly Lent: It’s All About the Joy, No Sadness (Part 2)
Read Part 1 here. I ran across a compelling quote from the pen of St. John Chrysostom, which I believe is very telling of the spiritual poverty people experience in our day and age. This spiritual...
View ArticleDon’t Worry…Be Happy in God!
We live in an ironic age. While most of us in the Western world live relatively comfortable lifestyles, at least in comparison to the rest of the world, we nevertheless experience surges of anxiety and...
View ArticleLazarus Is Risen! Truly He Is Risen!
It perhaps may sound quite odd to our Orthodox Christian ears if on the Saturday of Lazarus, we were to greet each other with the words: “Lazarus is risen! Truly he is risen!” Naturally, no liturgical...
View ArticleWhen Pascha is Everyday!
Xριστὸς ἀνέστη! Christ is risen! Natural catastrophes and personal tragedies, not uncommon in our complex and fallen world, are simultaneously indicative and derivative of our fallen existence....
View ArticleWhy the Truth about Prioritizing God Can Never Be Relativized
Recently, as I was reading a scholarly article in a particular volume of a theological journal, the St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, I came across a revealing quote from the infamous pen of...
View ArticleThe Joyfulness of Motherhood — from a Man’s Perspective: A Reflection on the...
Needless to say, I am not a woman who can speak with confidence about female matters in a convincing sort of way. I was raised to have the utmost respect for those persons about whom I know very little...
View ArticleGod’s Creed –“I Believe in Man”
”At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.” These words appear early on in Brazilian author...
View ArticleTreasure Fellowship With God
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 45:10 LXX). One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is Psalm 46 (45 LXX):10, which reads: “Be still, and know that I am God.” This brief but powerful...
View ArticleThe Beauty of Diversity in Unity
Our primary goal at the Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is to share the truth of Orthodoxy with the world. Our secondary goal is to generate fruitful conversations that strengthen us in our own faith...
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