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Loaves, fishes, and artoclasia

The homily below was given on 7 August 2011 by Fr. Demetri Tsigas of Saint Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Melbourne, FL. He e-mailed it out to various people and I am including it here because it is such an excellent sermon and a good explanation of the bread, wine, oil, and wheat ceremony celebrated in the midst of the Great Vespers of various feasts. Please read and learn: In the name of the... [Read more]

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Priests, pastors, and “politics”

Priests and pastors are often told that they should not become involved in politics. This is for a couple of reasons. One of them certainly is that one needs to be able to pastor to the whole congregation. If one frequently expresses political views, one is certain to eventually drive off some of the members of the congregation who will move to a community more congenial to their beliefs. But, often... [Read more]

For the Orthodox, Church history is family history

I was asked on another blog how much the Orthodox know about Church history. I posted the reply below: When I first read the question my reaction was to say that the Orthodox are extremely well versed in Church history and that it plays an important part in the life of our Church. But, upon reflection I decided that this is not a fully accurate description. The typical Orthodox believer knows significantly... [Read more]

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. . . difficult and left untried

The great ideals of the past failed not by being outlived (which must mean over-lived), but by not being lived enough. … The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried. — G.K. Chesterton, Part One: The Homelessness Of Man, Ch. 5 : The Unfinished Temple On Sunday I heard a good sermon that used that quote, and a good quote it is.... [Read more]

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Canons and phronema

I have before written on the subject of phronema as it relates to mission. There I pointed out that phronema can have both a positive and a negative meaning. You can read the post and find out that the word is used in Greek in two senses. In that post I quoted another article which said: “Phronema is a transliteration of [a] Greek word, . . . which has the meanings of ‘mind’, ‘spirit’,... [Read more]

Tolstoy on war

War is so unjust and ugly that all who wage it must try to stifle the voice of conscience within themselves. — Leo Tolstoy War on the other hand is such a terrible thing, that no man, especially a Christian man, has the right to assume the responsibility of starting it. — Leo Tolstoy Someone who commented recently asked if I ever read Tolstoy, since I have been quoting Dostoevsky. My... [Read more]

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Make yourself responsible for all the sins of men

“There is only one salvation for you: take yourself up, and make yourself responsible for all the sins of men. For indeed it is so, my friend, and the moment you make yourself sincerely responsible for everything and everyone, you will see at once that it is really so, that it is you who are guilty on behalf of all and for all. Whereas by shifting your own laziness and powerlessness onto others,... [Read more]

There is no I in Church

From The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: “Once upon a time there was a peas­ant woman and a very wicked woman she was. And she died and did not leave a sin­gle good deed behind. The dev­ils caught her and plunged her into the lake of fire. So her guardian angel stood and won­dered what good deed of hers he could remem­ber to tell to God; ‘she once pulled up an onion in her gar­den,’... [Read more]

Synaxarion of Pentecost 2011

Excerpts below are from Holy Transfiguration Monastery: After the Saviour’s Ascension into the Heavens, the eleven Apostles and the rest of His disciples, the God-loving women who followed after Him from the beginning, His Mother, the most holy Virgin Mary, and His brethren-all together about 120 souls returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. Entering into the house where they gathered,... [Read more]

Can Catholics be good legislators in a pluralistic democracy?

As a result of the discussion on Catholic Social Doctrine, one of the readers of this blog brought up a question that has been asked before in the history this nation. Can a Roman Catholic be a member of a government in a pluralistic democracy? Actually, it really brings up the broader question of whether a Christian can be a member of government. Why did this question come up? Well, let’s look... [Read more]

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