Yes, Lord — Scriptures, Church, Christ
The holy scriptures—Christ’s Church—Christ himself: how incredibly fortunate we are! First, the scriptures. John Chrysostom says this: Great is the profit of the holy Scriptures, and all sufficient is the aid which comes from them…for the divine words are a treasury of all manner of medicines. Whether it be needful to quench pride, to lull […]
The Holy Spirit is the Answer to Our Prayers
Today’s daily gospel reading ended with the Lord saying, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” What does it mean that he will give us the Holy Spirit? Some leftover influence […]
The Monk Who Never Judged Anyone and Died Joyfully
Coming up on the Sunday of the Last Judgment, we might feel a stirring of some of those fears we have, deep down, of that Judgment Day. But there is a trick. We actually have a large amount of control over how we are judged. Christ says, Judge not, and you will not be judged. […]
Zephaniah – Zechariah – same difference
In the process of preparing text to be sung in our services, I often run across questions about the meaning. I try my best to reword unclear passages so they will make sense to the hearer, who, in almost all cases, will only get one chance to hear that particular text, and that, sung by […]
Apply Wine and Oil
I just love the interaction between Christ and the lawyer that we see in Luke 10. Christ asks: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” The lawyer replies: “You shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with […]