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Blog Of The Dormition Blog


holydormition.blogspot.com
A blog about religious, theological, and social issues from an Eastern Catholic perspective.
The Morality Of Birth Control
2020-08-12 19:21
Introduction There are few issues so disputed within the Church and between Christians of all kinds as the morality of birth control. Most commonly, the dispute is about whether or not artif… Read More
The Prayer
2020-07-22 20:28
Two blind men follow Jesus, “crying aloud, ‘Have mercy on us, Son of David’” (Matt 9:27). And later they call him “Lord” (9:28). And Jesus opens their eye… Read More
Fasting For Vocations
2020-06-18 17:38
We are now in the midst of the Apostles Fast. Several years ago, when my sister was first learning about the Byzantine tradition – we didn’t grow up in this tradition, you see &n&hell…Read More
Unknown Saints
2020-06-09 15:16
When I was an art student in college, I was particularly fascinated by medieval art and iconography. And I spent a lot of time poring over books of medieval art. The art of this time, in my… Read More
Prayer In The Temple
2020-02-04 16:01
The recent confluence of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee and the Great Feast of the Meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ with Simeon and Anna is rare. (I think it’s even cooler… Read More
Appearances
2020-02-04 15:47
It appears to Zacchaeus and to us that he is searching strenuously to see Jesus. The crowd gets in his way so he runs on ahead and climbs up a tree so that he will be able to see him. He&rsq&hell…Read More
2020-02-04 15:45
A blind man sat by the road near Jericho begging (Luke 18:35). What do you think he was begging for? Money, right? Or food. Or clothing. Or perhaps a place to stay. He was not begging for hi… Read More
I Want My House To Be Full.
2019-12-16 22:51
“I want my house to be full,” says the host of the banquet (Luke 14:23). I hear that. I want our house to be full.Most people these days call the buildings in which we… Read More
Eternal Life Is Eternal Growth
2019-12-03 19:39
The rich ruler becomes “sad” after Jesus shows him the way to “inherit eternal life” (Luke 18: 23, 18). Why should that make him sad? That’s what he asked for… Read More
Prepare To Stand In The Glory Of The Lord.
2019-11-19 16:35
Now we are fasting. Now we are simplifying our lives. Now we give to those in need what we save by fasting and simplifying our lives.Now we examine our consciences in peace. Now we confess a… Read More
A Balance Of Fasts And Feasts
2019-10-20 16:00
I like to feast. That’s probably becoming more apparent as my girth expands. That’s because I feast too much. My Sicilian rector once observed that I am “a good fork.&rdquo&hell…Read More
The Lord Gardens As Well As Sows
2019-10-20 10:28
on Luke 8:5-15There is no question as to whether or not the Lord has sown the seed of the word of God in your heart. He has done so. He pours out his grace upon all of us constantly. He is p… Read More
Taking Others At Their Word
2019-10-02 19:29
One morning, oh, about 10 or 11 years ago, I was running a bit late for work. I left in such a hurry, I forgot that I had taken my debit card out of my wallet. There was no cash in there eit… Read More
Experience The Apocalypse
2019-09-16 19:01
“Amen,” Jesus says, “there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come in power” (Mark 9:1).  Icon of the Kingdom of… Read More
2019-08-18 16:00
If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will move the mountain. And nothing will be impossible for you. (Matt 17:20).Our faith should be like mustard seed. A mustard seed is tiny, but its… Read More
Through One Another
2019-08-09 17:25
Notice how Jesus works through his apostles. He could have easily fed the multitude himself with bread from heaven. He could have rained down manna upon this great throng in a lonely place a… Read More
It Is The Lord Who Heals.
2019-08-06 17:02
Today, Jesus heals two blind men. He gives sight to the blind. Then, he drives the demon out of a demoniac. He gives voice to the mute. Then, he goes around to all the cities and villages cu… Read More
To Teach With Authority
2019-07-20 18:31
BK does not stand for Byzantine Catholic. It stands for Burger King. At Burger King, you can have it your way. But not here.We are a Church that makes bold to teach with authority. Here, we… Read More
Knowing To Whom We Speak In Prayer
2019-07-16 17:20
The centurion gives us such an example of faith, as Jesus says, and also of prayer, of trust, of humility, & of divine knowledge (Matt 8:5-13).Listen to what he says to Jesus: “Lor… Read More
2019-05-30 19:31
There is a sadness in this day. The Paschal season is over - no longer do we sing “Christ is Risen.” There is a sadness in this day. The burial shroud is removed from the Holy Ta… Read More
Knowledge Of God
2019-05-16 22:55
"Faith is a True Knowledge"[1]Not only is it possible to know God, it is not possible to know without God. At least, without experience of God knowledge is not possible in the deepest and su… Read More
The Gospel Of The Cross
2019-03-25 16:35
Before we process with it to the tetrapod on for the Veneration, the Holy Cross is on the holy table in the place where the gospel usually rests. The typicon instructs us to place it there b… Read More
2019-03-03 18:00
Before we fast, we forgive. Today, we celebrate Forgiveness Sunday. Tomorrow, we begin to fast. Jesus first commands us to forgive one another (just after teaching us the Lord’s prayer… Read More
The Least
2019-02-25 01:55
on Matt 25:31-46Each of us has someone that we love the least. Maybe this is an enemy who has done us harm. Someone who abused us in various ways or humiliated us. On the other hand, maybe i… Read More
No One Is Good But God Alone.
2019-01-23 20:39
On Luke 18:18-27When I was a small boy, our priest told us how, when he was a small boy, the people would go to church no matter what. It didn't matter if the snow was deep or the roads were… Read More
Withdraw For A Time.
2019-01-14 02:25
Christ is baptized!And immediately after his baptism, he was led by the Spirit into the desert, where he was tempted by the devil. This is the gospel we heard yesterday for the Saturday afte… Read More
2018-12-24 00:02
The gospels provide two genealogies of Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is the beginning of the gospel of Matthew, which we read today – the Sunday before Christmas – The Sunday of t… Read More
2018-11-20 17:00
Jesus leaves us today with a discomforting and obscure image: “where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.”[1] … I think here of corpses in the desert, dead fr… Read More
2018-11-11 17:00
The lawyer looks for justification in the letter of the law. I’ll spoil the surprise for you right at the beginning – he’s not gonna find it there. He knows the law as well… Read More
Stop
2018-11-05 00:25
Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, falls at Jesus’ feet and begs him to come heal his twelve-year old daughter, who is dying (Luke 8:41-42). And so Jesus sets off to Jairus’s hous… Read More
Listing Minimums And Missing The Point
2018-09-23 21:18
The people pressed upon Jesus to hear the word of God (Luke 5:1). So much so, that he felt the need to get into a boat – Simon Peter's boat, as it so happens – and to put out a l… Read More
2018-09-14 17:15
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” These must be the most recognized words of the gospe… Read More
The Bitter Is Made Sweet By The Cross
2018-09-14 17:02
The Israelites were in the wilderness for three days with no water. And then, when they found a place with water, it was so bitter they could not drink it. So they named that place Marah, wh… Read More
2018-09-08 16:00
My favorite icon is called the Virgin of the Sign. In Byzantine churches, it belongs on the eastern wall behind the holy table. It depicts Mary, the Theotokos, with her arms in a posture of… Read More
2018-09-02 14:30
A Pharisee – a lawyer – asks Jesus to tell him the greatest commandment. This is meant as a test or – the word also means – a temptation. Little does the Pharisee kno… Read More
2018-08-27 14:20
On Matthew 22:1-14You know, for a wedding story, this parable is rather violent. Now, some of the guests invited to the wedding feast simply make light of it and – excusing themselves… Read More
2018-08-13 00:53
Jesus does not compel the rich young man – or us – to give away everything or to follow him (Matt 19:16-26). He invites us to that perfection, but he does not compel us to it. He… Read More
Forgive Everything
2018-08-08 13:01
In a parable, our Lord Jesus Christ gives us a God’s eye view of sin and forgiveness (Matt 18:23-35). An official owes his king ten thousand talents. The king is the Lord. You and I ar… Read More
In Almighty God’s Own Good Time
2018-07-22 21:24
Our Lord is not bound by time. But our Lord chooses to act in time – in his own good time. The first deacon says quietly to the priest at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy, “It… Read More
Faith Of The Blind
2018-07-08 17:54
on Matt 9:27-35. Seventh Sunday after PentecostToday, two blind men teach us much about faith and about prayer. When they encounter Jesus, they don’t exactly ask what you might expect… Read More
Abandonment To The Will Of God
2018-06-04 00:33
The brothers Simon Peter and Andrew were fishermen. One day, while they were casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee, Jesus walks by and says to them, “Follow me, and I will make yo… Read More
For The Fallen Of War
2018-05-28 17:16
Not always, but sometimes, the instincts of the nation and the instincts of the Church come into harmony. And today - Memorial Day - is one of those times. War disrupts and cuts off too many… Read More
Violent Prayer
2018-05-25 19:58
“The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent bear it away” (Matt. 11:12). What does this mean?This runs somewhat against our usual way of speaking as Christians, even… Read More
The Mystery Of Good And Evil
2018-05-06 19:05
Why do we suffer? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is it that babies sometimes die before they get a chance to live? Why is it that sometimes they are born blind, like the man in… Read More
Photini
2018-04-29 14:30
Jesus shines his light into the life of the Samaritan woman. He comes to the well of their mutual father Jacob in the middle of the day - at the sixth hour, that is, at the height of noon … Read More
A Paralytic Church?
2018-04-22 20:17
Our Church is dwindling – that is, our particular Church here in the United States: the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh. We’re about one… Read More
Thomas Of Great Faith
2018-04-08 19:19
on John 20:19-31Praise the Lord, who rescues us from our enemies (Ps. 29:2). “Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him, give thanks to his holy name” (29:5). The maker of all th… Read More
What Return Can I Make To The Lord?
2018-03-29 23:00
Our Lord has given himself to us. Have we given ourselves to the Lord? “What can I return to the Lord for all he has given me?” (Psalm 115/116). Just four days ago, it… Read More
See The Good
2018-03-21 23:00
Joseph sees the good in the midst of evil. Do we? Or, do we complain constantly about every little thing we suffer without ever stopping to give thanks and praise to God for the good with wh… Read More
Holy Repentance Leads To Holy Communion.
2018-03-18 18:09
St. Mary of Egypt19th centuryOur holy mother Mary of Egypt is a glorious example of repentance, and she shows for us, I think, the deep connection that exists between Holy Repentance and Hol… Read More
Wait Upon The Lord
2018-03-16 16:11
Russian icon of Abrahammid-1600sThe Lord appears to Abram when he is 99 years old and says, "I will make my covenant between me and you and will multiply you exceedingly" (Gen 17:1-2). Those… Read More
There Is One Priest
2018-03-04 22:20
More so than at any other time of the year, we Churches who follow the Byzantine tradition are now immersed in the Old Testament. On the weekdays of the Great Fast, we are reading Genesis an… Read More
Mostly Water
2018-03-01 02:05
A human body is mostly water. The Flood of Noahby William de Brailes, circa 1250Only after the whole face of the ground was watered by a mist or a flood did the Lord God form a man… Read More
Listen To Palamas
2018-02-26 20:24
Our holy father Gregory Palamas is one reason I became a Byzantine Catholic. I wrote a paper about him when I was a student of Dr. Stephen Webb at Wabash College and I became convinced of hi… Read More
Time Alone And Time With Others
2018-02-26 19:03
My how we need each other! How dependent upon one another the Lord has made us!  The paralyzed man in the gospel needed his friends (Mark 2: 1-12). Through their help and because o… Read More
Nodding In The Presence Of The Lord
2018-02-22 00:30
Kain – unstet und flüchtigby Wilhelm Groß, 1956/57 "Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the Land of Nod, east of Eden" (Genesis 4:16). “Nod&rdqu&hell…Read More
Seeing And Being Seen
2018-02-18 21:00
A holy icon is an image. That's what the word icon means - image. And an image is something that you see. Today, Philip says to Nathanael, "Come and see."Come and see what? Well, come and se… Read More
Beginning In The Beginning
2018-02-15 02:45
The Great Fast begins in the beginning. It is a good time to stop and reorient ourselves toward the Lord – to go back to the beginning and to remember what we humans really are and why… Read More
The Meeting Of Time And Eternity[i]
2018-02-02 13:00
St Simeon the God ReceiverMoscow, Old Believers' workshop, circa 1800Forty days ago, Christ is born! So now it is time for him and his mother to go to Jerusalem – to the temple –… Read More
2018-01-22 17:37
Our Lord Jesus heals a blind man outside of Jericho (Luke 18:35-43). Many people of that society looked upon those with such a disability as of significantly less worth than those who could… Read More
Lifted Up In The Tree
2018-01-14 20:30
Tree of ZacchaeusJerichoJesus was certainly able to draw crowds, as the story of Zacchaeus illustrates (Luke 19:1-10). There are people today with that same sort of popular draw. For ex… Read More
2018-01-08 14:06
In the West, and even among some Byzantines living in the West, we have a tendency to treat the time from Christmas until Theophany rather like a diminuendo – which, in music, is a gra… Read More
God Is With Us.
2017-12-24 18:39
Our Lord and God Jesus, for whom and by whom all things exist – through whom the Father brings us out of nonexistence into being – is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sist… Read More
Faith And Thanksgiving
2017-12-10 18:41
When a leper under the Mosaic covenant is healed of his leprosy, he is to go and show himself to the priest, who is to examine him and certify that he is indeed free of leprosy, so that he c… Read More
Every Conception Is An Act Of God.
2017-12-09 16:46
Who are the mother and the brethren of the Lord Jesus? Those who hear the word of God and keep it are his mother and his brethren, says the Lord (Luke 8:21). Foremost among these is the Theo… Read More
2017-11-19 22:08
Well, they tell me some of the radio stations have already started playing Christmas music. It seems like everyone I know loves to complain about this. I mean really across the spectrum of i… Read More
2017-10-26 15:58
I don't do a lot of fire and brimstone preaching. For one thing, it seems to me that such preaching is often born of a hypocritical hope for the damnation of one's enemies. We are not to hop… Read More
Holy Dirt
2017-10-18 19:53
Twelve hundred and thirty years ago, our fathers gathered in the town of Nicaea for what would become the seventh ecumenical council (Nicaea II), which is especially remembered for its defen… Read More
Pour Out Your Complaints Before The Cross.
2017-09-10 21:00
painting by William Blake"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3: 14).What a stran… Read More
Authority Under Authority
2017-07-04 22:06
All of us are under authority. Most of us have some authority. Many of us have problems with authority.A mother says to her son, "Go." And the son says, "Send my brother instead. He's not do… Read More
2017-06-05 00:27
The Penitent Magdalene, detailby Georges de La Tour, circa 1640-1645At my church, we burn oil lamps in front of the icons on the icon screen. We used to burn votive candles, but so… Read More
Confounding The World
2017-05-22 17:14
The Lord our God defies our assumptions. Jesus Christ and his saints just don't act right. What I mean is, they don't respond to things the way the world thinks they will – or should… Read More
Rise
2017-05-07 18:48
Christ is risen! And now Jesus is telling us to rise. The Risen Lord raises us. To the paralytic, Jesus says "Rise – take up your pallet, and walk” (John 5:8). Jesus says "Rise"… Read More
2017-04-23 19:54
Christ is Risen!Such joy we have known! "We have seen the Lord!" (John 20:25). Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and to those in the tombs bestowing life. Darkness… Read More
We Do Not Limit Grace.
2017-04-03 15:14
Saturday was the feast day of St. Mary of Egypt and Sunday – the last Sunday of the Great fast – we remembered St. Mary of Egypt again.Before her repentance, St. Mary of Egypt wa… Read More
2017-03-12 21:27
Wisdom! Be attentive! We must pay close attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it (Heb 2:1). We will not escape the just retribution of the Lord if we neglect the great sal… Read More
Feed The Goats
2017-02-19 23:22
At other times, Jesus says he does not come to condemn the world but to save the world (John 3:17; 12:47). The word is κρίνω, to separate, or to judge. He did not co… Read More
Do What They Say, Not What They Do.
2017-02-06 03:42
One Sunday morning, two men came to our parish church to pray and attend liturgy.One was a pious and learned Byzantine Catholic gentleman. He had studied and knew our faith well. He rigorous… Read More
There Is No Excuse.
2016-12-13 03:21
Maybe some of us can sympathize with the excuse makers in the parable of the great banquet – perhaps especially in this season of office parties to which we may not always want to go (… Read More
2016-11-28 20:33
On a Sabbath day, Jesus sets free a woman who was crippled for eighteen years by Satan (Luke 13:10-11, 16). On a Sabbath day, Jesus says to her, "Woman, you are loosed" (Luke 13:12). You are… Read More
Love The Stranger As Yourself
2016-11-14 14:24
The Hospitality of Abraham,Constantinople, late 14th centuryA lawyer – that is, a scholar of Torah – asks Jesus what he has to do to live forever (Luke 10:25). Life forever is wh… Read More
Sometimes There Is Only One Who Believes.
2016-10-31 01:18
on Luke 8:26-39The people of the Gerasene countryside loved their pigs too much. Perhaps they were overly fond of bacon – as are some of us. I like bacon, but the bacon-love of some se… Read More
God Loves The World.
2016-09-12 20:49
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” These must be the most recognized words of the gospe… Read More
Celebrate Or Die
2016-08-23 13:47
Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast (Matt 22:1-14). But, for a wedding story, his parable has a lot of murder and violence. Some of the guests invited to the wedding feast… Read More
Only Jesus Is Enough.
2016-08-22 22:23
St. Athanasius Icon St. Athanasius Church in Germas (Loshnitsa)17th centurySome of Jesus’ commandments to us seem a bit out of reach. For example, he commands us, “Be perfect, as… Read More

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