Losing Our Lives for Christ in Our Hardships
For the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the Church both prepares us for the feast with a special reading the Sunday before, and also, today, sends us off from the feast with a special reading the Sunday after. This past Sunday’s gospel reading, for the Sunday after the feast of the Cross, is […]
Our Daily Offerings
The Gospel passage this past Sunday was the Matthew passage of the feeding of the five thousand. What struck me most was the concern of the disciples. Their hearts are in the right place. The multitudes are out in this deserted place, and the disciples are concerned about their welfare. Jesus surprises them by suggesting […]
Why Fast?
Our Lord began his ministry with a fast, and addressed fasting not with an indifference of saying “if you fast”; rather teaching his disciples with the words “when you fast . . . ” Matthew 6:16-18 16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that […]
Great Lent & Fasting
The season of Great Lent is the time of preparation for the feast of the Resurrection of Christ. It is a time of renewed devotion: of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, repentance & renewal of our minds, hearts and deeds in conformity with Christ and His teachings, our return to the great commandments of loving God […]
Preparing for the Journey to Pascha!
Pre-Lent The paschal season of the Church is preceded by the season of Great Lent, which is itself preceded by its own liturgical preparation. The first sign of the approach of Great Lent comes five Sundays before its beginning. On this Sunday the Gospel reading is about Zacchaeus the tax-collector. It tells how Christ brought […]