Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard.  He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor.  (Proverbs 21:13, 21) While the Scriptures call us to be righteous, our argumentative nature places the emphasis on our being right instead. We are more eager to prove we are right than to show we are righteous. As a race, we are much more likely to want to be right than to want to be good. However, the Gospels do not call us to be right, but to be righteous.  (Fr Meletios Webber, STEPS OF TRANSFORMATION, p 110 ..read more

And they did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them; He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out. (Isaiah 48:21)  Theodoret of Cyrus (d. 457AD) comments on the event of God bringing water from the rock to quench the thirst of the Israelites sojourning through the desert which St Paul interprets as prefiguring baptism and communion.  Now, I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all accepted baptism into Moses in the cloud and in the sea ..read more

Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45) Christ both showed by example as well as taught us that we are to serve others. Greatness in Christ’s terms means serving others, meeting their needs and laboring for the good of others (which Christians who want to make America great should keep in mind – be great as Christ defined greatness). All the work ..read more

Today the Church commemorates the Apostle Zacchaeus, the tax collector who converted and became a disciple of Christ. In the Gospel narrative of Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus says to Jesus: “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:8-10) The biblical text is usually interpreted to mean that Zacchaeus at that moment repented of his p ..read more

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:1-2) St Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444AD) reflects on what turmoil God’s command to Abraham must have had on that poor old man. Scripture itself is uncomfortably silent about what Abraham was thinking or feeling. The situation caused consternation for ancient commentators as w ..read more

Articles that I have read about the Russian Church document, “The Present and Future of the Russian World”, have deeply saddened me for that document portrays a Church which has abandoned its Gospel mission in favor of a nationalistic and imperial agenda. That document raises the Gospel question: “For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” (Mark 8:36). The Church is supposed to equip each of its members to “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesia ..read more

During the first week of Great Lent, and then again on Thursday of the 5th week of Lent, the singing of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is prescribed. Fr Alexander Schmemann comments on the Canon: It is important that we return now to the idea and experience of Lent as a spiritual journey whose purpose is to transfer us from one spiritual state into another. . . . At the commencement of Lent, as its inauguration, as the ‘pitch’ which is to begin the entire ‘melody,’ we find the great penitential Canon of St Andrew of Crete. Divided into four parts, it is read at Great Compline on the ..read more

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)  Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established. (Proverbs 19:21)  One piece of wisdom found in Scriptures, as in the quotes above, can be rephrased as “Man proposes but God disposes.” Or, paraphrasing what poet Robert Burns wrote in 1786, “the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.” St James offers us the same idea: Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain ..read more

He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.   A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.  (Proverbs 14:29; 15:1) St John Cassian, who reveals in his writings a strong aversion against anger, comments that sometimes we cannot control our annoyance and rage, but we can suppress it so that we don’t openly afflict it on others. Even though suppressing it can be more loving towards others than always venting it, still from a spiritual point of view the rage is in our hearts and is at war with the Holy Spirit. Such hear ..read more

And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22-24) The 6th Century Syrian monk now referred to as Pseudo-Macarius comments on belief and doubt: There are some who, even though they have begun to develop a taste for divine things, nevertheless are disturbed and hassled by the adversary, so that ..read more