Category: Eastern Liturgy
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The Liturgies Marking the Passing of a Loved One
9/16/2019 – One Year Later It was one year ago this evening that I received an unexpected call from Life Alert saying that my mother had activated her button, thinking that she was having a stroke. Her own mother and sister had died of a stroke and she was always worried that this would be…
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Communion and Community
COVID-19 poses a flood of opportunities to us.
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A Virtual Vigil and Wake in the Time of the Coronavirus
A Virtual Vigil It was a Monday morning when I received the news that a dear friend of mine had become “unresponsive.” She had battled multiple illnesses in recent years and had just stopped her cancer treatments after being told there was nothing more medically that could be done for her. She had known that…
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The Divine Liturgy During a Time of Pandemic
The Liturgy is not offered only for Orthodox laity, but Christ and his body offer it on behalf of all.
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Ethiopia’s Church Forests
Emergence Magazine is an online publication featuring innovative stories that explore the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. They recently published an essay and a film combination entitled The Church Forests of Ethiopia: A Mystical Geography. I would encourage readers to follow the link and watch the film and read the accompanying essay. Here we…
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Renouncing Satan and the Divine Liturgy: A Proposal
The rite draws upon the renunciation/confession baptismal foundation,
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Returning to Church Post-Quarantine: The Liturgy of the Senses
The Lenten Quarantine Like many houses of worship, the church I attend (not pictured) closed in March to all but “essential” liturgical personnel. In this case, “essential” meant clergy, an altar server (or two) and a chanter (or two.) Services were streamed over the Internet so the rest of the faithful could watch from our…
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Who do we trust and why? Reflections on Thomas Sunday (John 19:20–31)
Who do we trust and why? The question seems especially appropriate in this era of claims of “fake news.” However, it is not a new question in our political realm. Nor is it a new question within the Christian tradition. Our world-view is formed by our answer to this question. When we are infants, we…
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The words and Word of God that Create and Renew: A Reflection for the Beginning of Lent
Words carry meaning. They communicate our thoughts and feelings, tell others about who we are and our relationship with them. The can be used to invite, teach, praise, demean, ridicule, forgive, heal, and give hope—to name just a few ways we use our words. In short, words matter! I would like to focus this Lenten…