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Reflections on the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Our Orthodox Faith commits us to an Apostolic and Patristic form of Christianity.  We are committed to Holy Scripture as the ultimate source of our authority for faith and life, and to the catholic consensus of the interpretation of the Scriptures of the Apostles the Fathers and the Bishops of the Church. Part of the Patristic mind has to do with the understanding of sin. For most modern Christians, sin is a matter of doing bad things, which creates a debt to God, and which somebody has to pay off.  They believe that Jesus paid the debt for our sins on the Cross – paid the Father, that is, so we would no longer bear the penalty.

The Fathers of the church have a rather different understanding of Christ’s saving work.  Continue reading “Reflections on the Seventh Sunday after Trinity”

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Reflections on the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

BRETHREN:  So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection… Continue reading “Reflections on the Sixth Sunday after Trinity”

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Reflections on the Fifth Sunday after Trinity

As we examine our Gospel for this Sunday (St. Luke 5:1…), the first thing to meet us is the phrase: “the people pressed upon Jesus to hear the word of God.”

What has happened in Luke’s account up to this point?  Jesus has returned from His baptism and temptation in the wilderness to the region of Galilee, to Nazareth his old home.  He has made an astonishing statement in His hometown synagogue which caused his old neighbors to take offense: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Continue reading “Reflections on the Fifth Sunday after Trinity”

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Reflections on the Fourth Sunday after Trinity

I am often struck by how deeply imbedded in such a relatively short time the evangelical notion of the “Rapture” is in most protestant churches.  It is a dogma in most evangelical circles, even though it is, especially in Orthodox time, a very novel invention.  It basically states that believers (only “true” believers in some circles) will be snatched away from earth so as not to suffer during the Tribulation period which is variously defined as “pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib, pre-wrath, mid-wrath,” etc. Continue reading “Reflections on the Fourth Sunday after Trinity”

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Refelctions on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

We commemorate three primary birthdays in the Christian year: Our Lord, Our Lady, and St. John the Baptist.  St. John the Forerunner stands in a unique place in salvation history: on the cusp.  For some 400 years, the voice of prophecy had been silent in Israel—since Malachi. Yet he had prophesied a coming messenger in the spirit and power of Elijah. Continue reading “Refelctions on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist”

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Reflections on the Second Sunday after Trinity

Our lessons today bring a tone of judgment.  Our Epistle echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 regarding the curse of those who have not ministered unto the least of his brethren.  Our Lord’s parable in the holy Gospel speaks of those invited to the great feast who make all sorts of excuses as to why they can’t attend, who place everyday business ahead of the claims of God and the Kingdom, and who are no longer welcome.

The truth is that our very coming into this sacred space is a judgment. Continue reading “Reflections on the Second Sunday after Trinity”

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Reflections on the First Sunday after Trinity

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”

One of the major differences between Orthodoxy and non-Orthodox forms of Christianity is in the area of soteriology. That word derives from soter, which means Savior. Soteriology is the study of salvation in its broadest sense. Non-Orthodox begin the study with fallen humanity and how sin affects God, whereas traditional soteriology commences not with man as a sinner, but as a sharer in the life of God. It contemplates first the goal of redemption, which is our participation in the divine nature. Continue reading “Reflections on the First Sunday after Trinity”

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Reflections on Trinity Sunday

Today we commemorate the full revelation of God as Holy Trinity.  The Church has had to deal theologically with the paradox of unity and distinction within the Godhead early and often.

Over the first four centuries she literally transformed the language of the philosophers to speak of the mystery she was forced to defend.  The Fathers, by specializing the meaning of ousia or essence, and hypostasis or person, sought to draw out the importance of affirming personhood within the shared substance of divinity.   Continue reading “Reflections on Trinity Sunday”