Category: Blog
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The Medium is the Message
The Readings for the Elevation of the Holy Cross (14 Sept 23) For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 TAKE A LOOK AT THE various English translations of 1 Corinthians 1:18. Most of…
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A New House
The Readings for Dedication of the Church of the Anastasis in Jerusalem (13 Sept 23) Yet Jesus has been counted worthy of as much more glory than Moses as the builder of a house has more honor than the house. Hebrews 3:3 THIS IS ONE OF Those arguments that gets lost in translation. Because –…
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Breaking Bad
The Readings for 16th Tuesday after Pentecost (xii.IX.2023) For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. Galatians 5:13 SAUL or, to use his Latin name, Paul (it was not, like Abraham, changed by God) is telling…
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Carpenters?
The Readings for 15th Tuesday after Pentecost (5 Sept) Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? Matthew 22:11 FROM THE FOLKS WHO DO “The Jesus Seminar” I’ve head they Craftsmen – that is men who…
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Total Number of Possible Sins?
IN WESTERN, EURO-AMERICAN minds sin is often conceived of as a case of “don’t -do”. There are very few positive sins – sins of omission – in this concept. Even when they exist, as for feeding the hungry, they are usually expressed as negatives: don’t forget to… Don’t ignore… This is true inside and outside…
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Dude it up!
The Readings for 14th Saturday after Pentecost (2 Sept) They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. Matthew 23:5 AFRIEND WHO IS A LATIN RITE DEACON Tells of meeting Byzantine Rite Deacon who was dressed as for Divine Liturgy. Byzantine Vestments are very spiffy, indeed! My friend asked the Deacon, “How…
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Happy New Year!
The Readings for the Eclessial New Year (1 Sept) For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 USING THE FIRST OF September as the New Year was a Byzantine practice from…
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Under the Party Tree
להגיע לבן חמישים ותשע זה דומה לבן עשרים ותשע רק שלושים שנה מוחר יותר REACHING FIFTY NINE today is a bit of a surprise. I’m not surprised that I have lived this long, only that I have lived this long already. I’ve passed the halfway mark to Eleventy One, but it feels remarkably short. About…
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Source : Summit :: Author : Finisher?
WE USE A VERBAL IMAGE describing the liturgy as “heaven striking earth”. It usually gets used in discussions of “beauty” in Church, sometimes in defense of liturgical practices like incense or vestments. The first time Ukrainians came to Constantinople from Kyiv, they visited a liturgy at Hagia Sophia and reported they “did not know whether…
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Greetings from Byzantium
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FlashbackFriday: Lo Tech
OLD NEWS THAT CEOS of tech companies will not let their kids play with smartphones, coupled with my own experiences in High Tech where no one ever uses the word “addiction” but everyone – everyone at every level – talks about “stickiness” and “keeping eyes on”. Everyone is looking for the right “lever” to pull…
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Emanentizing the Eschaton
ALTHOUGH WE IN this world experience time as a progression of moments God’s eternity is such that all moments are present in an eternal now. Although philosophers and theologians try to discern how it is that we humans will experience eternity, it seems that for the Divine Eternity there is a way in which one’s…
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The True Story of Sleeping Beauty
The Readings for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary I wrote this in 2018. Reposting for the feast (which will be on Monday). LET ME TELL YOU A love story. This is a real love story, not a romance, such as we pass off today as love; nor is it a “chick flick” sort…
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Universal Call
THE FOLLOWING is the “Alternative Second Reading” from the Dominican Propers for the Feast of Bl Jane of Aza, which was celebrated on 2 August. She is the mother of St Dominic which, as Father Michael preached on Wednesday, means she is our grandmother. This reading hasn’t, really, anything to do with Bl Jane. I’m…
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Chevre Souffle
YOUR HOST STARTED MAKING souffle during Covid. Jacques Pepin said his Mom used to make it this way. I doubt that – I bet Jacques made this recipe: he always finds ways to cut corners. That’s ok. It’s not the full-on Trad Souffle. Let’s call his the Novus Ordo Souffle. The only difference in my…
Orthoparadoxy 