A journal of byzantine digressionS
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Becoming Human
DIGGING IN MY email, I found this report of a retreat offered by Fr John Behr at my former parish, Holy Trinity Cathedral (OCA). It was a great retreat and, from this report which I wrote for our parish newsletter, it seems evident that Fr John has been working on the same issues for a
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Opening the Mind. Paris – 1240 AD
τότε διήνοιξεν αὐτῶν τὸν νοῦν τοῦ συνιέναι τὰς γραφάς.Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures…And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:45,27 THERE’S THIS CURIOUS – and shameful – event that happens in the reign of King St Louis
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Atonement Homily
Reposted from last year for this feast. The assignment: Drawing from the doctrine of atonement expounded by Anselm, Aquinas, and Dr Margaret Turek’s Atonement, you are to give a homily on this subject to adult parishioners. GOD HATES SIN. It’s perhaps an uncomfortable claim for we are aware that we sin although, perhaps, we tapdance
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Why is there Something?
THE PROJECT was a conversation/presentation for our local chapter of the Dominican lay fraternity on Chapter 12 of The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics by Fr W. Norris Clarke, SJ. The chapter was on Efficient Cause, which is one of the four causes of Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy. Here follow the notes
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All Saints: the Body of Messiah
The Readings for the Solemnity of theBody and Blood of Christ The Readings for the Sunday of All Saints So Jesus said to them, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the
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You may be cool
But are you Holy Passion Bearer Princess Anastasia talking a selfie cool? #teenagers
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A Month of Typica
OUR Byzantine Catholic Parish has one priest assigned plus three others who help out from time to time. By an untimely coincidence of schedules, we are in the midst of 3 weeks without a priest to serve the Divine Liturgy. This week, in fact, we had no Deacon as well. There’s a conference in Vienna.
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Barren Trees Die
JMJ✙ The Readings for the 8th Friday of Ordinary Time And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. Mark 11:14 (RSVCE) SO MANY SERMONS ON this passage make it out to be about Israel, or the Temple priesthood. In fact, the footnotes on the
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Nothing Ordinary
JMJ✙ The Readings for the Visitation of Mary8th Wednesday of Ordinary Time The Lord your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17 (RSVCE) WHEN MARY Visits Elizabeth their
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Overcoming the World
JMJ✙ The Readings for 7th Monday after Easter I have overcome the world. John 16:33 JESUS SAYS HE HAS OVERCOME the world. Yet, this is before his Crucifixion, before the Agony in the Garden – just before the High Priestly prayer. How has he already overcome the world? What does this mean for us? John
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Ecclesiology Final
The Assignment was to answer these two questions (in five pages or less): What is the Church? What is the Church’s mission? IN HIS HOMILY ON 11 May 2023, Fr James Moore, OP, said, “Jesus did not leave us a book, he left us a Church!” The questions of what is the church and what
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For the Beauty
THE LAST Weekend was #SpringinSF at it’s finest: not too hot, yet warm and sunny with a slight breeze. It was warm enough not to require a jacket until nearly 9 and that just meant that nighttime was cool enough to sleep! Saturday I was out and about long enough to “get some color” on
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Only Two Seasons
FROM THE OFFICE Of Readings for the 5th Saturday after Easter. I’m reminded of a comment made about my old Episcopal Parish. At St Gregory of Nyssa Church it seemed as if there were only two Church seasons: Easter and Easter is Comming. St Augustine appears to agree (emphasis added). Shabbat Shalom! From a discourse
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Byzantwo
THE PREVIOUS Post was written and posted. Totally forgotten was the point: the bridge used by the writer to open up the “the west” for the fruits of prayer arising in the east was the Liturgy. The Vatican Two “novus ordo” is exactly the Byzantine Divine liturgy, slightly tweaked for Westerners. By way of History,
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Byzantine
IT’S BEEN AN INTERESTING Year serving in a Byzantine Catholic Parish. There’s been a whole lot of learning – and some sadness. In 20 years as an Orthodox Christian, I was never once inside the Holy Place for the liturgy. Singing in choir was enough and – on those rare occasions (I can remember 3
Orthoparadoxy 