{"id":54878,"date":"2021-03-09T21:17:11","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T03:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=54878"},"modified":"2021-03-16T10:20:15","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T15:20:15","slug":"let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord…"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Hospitality of Abraham and Sarah\u2014Icon by Andrei Rublev<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What are we doing when we gather together as the Body of Christ? And, more importantly, why? From the earliest accounts of our Eucharistic celebration, we know that Christians gathered on the Lord\u2019s Day to read \u201cthe memoirs of the Apostles or the prophets\u201d (which, in the received tradition of the Orthodox Church, is the reading of the Epistle and Gospel), pray for the world, offer bread and wine to God with prayers and thanksgiving and then distribute the gifts to each and, finally, give any leftovers to the poor and needy [1]. Our Divine Liturgy was built on this foundational structure. Today, we often categorize our celebration in two parts\u2014the Liturgy of the Word where we hear readings that instruct us in the Christian faith and prepare us to celebrate together as the Body of Christ in what is called the Liturgy of the Faithful.<\/p>\n

What are we doing when we gather together as the Body of Christ? And, more importantly, why?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Themes of the Liturgy<\/h3>\n

Last year during our sermon series on the Liturgy, we focused on the Liturgy of the Word, in particular on the \u201cwords of the Word of God.\u201d We explored the various ways that the words of God are used, especially through the W<\/u>ord of God, Jesus Christ, to create, forgive, teach, heal and ultimately give us hope. This year, we will turn our attention to the Liturgy of the Faithful particularly, focusing on the themes of our communal gathering. Did you ever notice how many times we say \u201cthanks,\u201d \u201cpraise,\u201d \u201clove,\u201d or \u201cpeace\u201d in the service? Before Covid, when the young people of our parish would participate in liturgical service more regularly, I would pick one of these key words each week and ask them to count how many times it is found in the liturgy. At the end of the service, I would then ask, \u201cNow what are we doing when we gather together as the Body of Christ?\u201d For them, the answer would then be obvious. They would remark with a new-found excitement\u2014\u201cWe are giving thanks!\u201d \u201cWe are praising God!\u201d \u201cWe are showing our love of God and each other!\u201d or \u201cWe are experiencing the peace of God!\u201d For the next few Sundays, we will explore each of these themes in more detail. Today, I will focus on the theme of \u201cThanksgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Did you ever notice how many times we say \u201cthanks,\u201d \u201cpraise,\u201d \u201clove,\u201d or \u201cpeace\u201d in the service?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

God’s Gift to Us<\/h3>\n

Depending on any variations in the service (for instance, what the Choir sings during communion, etc.), we say the word \u201cthanks\u201d (or some variation thereof) over eight (8) times in the Divine Liturgy (Chrysostom). Thanksgiving is one of the main emphases of our celebration as the Body of Christ. In fact, it is from the verb \u201cto thank\u201d (Eucharisto in Greek) that we get our word, \u201cEucharist.\u201d<\/p>\n

We say the word \u201cthanks\u201d (or some variation thereof) over eight (8) times in the Divine Liturgy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the first times we hear the word \u201cthanks\u201d is during the opening dialogue of the great Eucharistic Prayer, the Anaphora [2] (p. 111). The priest asks us to \u201cLift up our hearts\u201d and we respond by saying \u201cWe lift them to the Lord.\u201d He then says, \u201cLet us give thanks<\/strong> to the Lord\u201d and we respond by saying, \u201cIt is proper and right\u2026.\u201d (In some traditions at this point, as it our present service books, we add the phrase, \u201cto worship Father, Son and Holy Spirit: the Trinity, one in Essence and undivided.\u201d However, this is a later addendum to the original, more simple, response of acknowledging that it is meet (or proper) and right to give thanks to the Lord.) The priest then continues in the first part of the prayer (sometimes called the Preface, p. 112), emphasizing that it is right to do so when he says, \u201cIt is meet and right to hymn thee, to bless thee, to praise thee, to give thanks<\/strong> unto thee, and to worship thee\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what are we thankful for?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, what are we thankful for? If we listen further we hear that we thank God<\/strong> for bringing us into being\u2014our life\u2014and for God\u2019s continued relationship with humanity. This God who is totally beyond our comprehension\u2014as we exclaim, \u201cineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible\u2026\u201d and has the power to create out of nothingness, is both unknowable and yet, able to be known. Our God reveals God-self to us; He wants a relationship with His creation. Even when humanity turned away, our God did not give up on us, but continues to care for us. God keeps reaching out to us to draw us back into communion with Him. In the Anaphora of St. Basil that we will celebrate during Lent, we hear that God sends prophets to His people, gives them guidelines by which to live their lives (i.e. the Law) and finally, comes to us as one of us<\/em> so we could get to know Him more fully (p. 136). We continue to thank God in the Liturgy for all these \u201cbenefits bestowed upon us, both manifest and unseen.\u201d Our relationship with God is truly a gift and for that we give thanks.<\/p>\n

Our relationship with God is truly a gift and for that we give thanks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our Gift to God<\/h3>\n

We continue in the prayer to thank <\/strong>God also for this ministry (i.e. liturgy) that we celebrate. In other words, as my mother used to say, when someone gives you a gift, you acknowledge it, thank them, and, as part of that exchange, offer your gift in return. For us, we thank God for accepting our gifts, when we gather together to offer them to God by the work of our hands. Jesus gives us the model for offering our gifts, when we recall His words at the Last Supper, \u201c\u2026when he took the bread in his pure and blameless hands\u2026gave thanks<\/strong>, blessed it and broke it, giving it to His Disciples\u201d (p. 113). (The text in the Liturgy of St. Basil is even more explicit, when in the Prayer before the Lord\u2019s Prayer, we acknowledge that it is God who teaches us how to worthily give thanks. (p. 142)) Similarly, in our offering, we praise, bless and give thanks<\/strong> to God (p. 113).<\/p>\n

As my mother used to say, when someone gives you a gift, you acknowledge it, thank them, and, as part of that exchange, offer your gift in return.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Return Gift<\/h3>\n

Our gifts of bread and wine are offered to God and, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, they are returned to us as the Body and Blood of Christ. We give of the bread of our life and in return we are given, in the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John, the Bread of<\/em> Life (Jn.6). For this, we thank<\/strong> God once more in the Prayer of Thanksgiving for \u201cfeeding us with the heavenly and immortal Mysteries\u201d (p. 125). We then ask God to \u201cdirect our paths and guard us in our lives\u201d (p. 125). This is also emphasized in the original Greek in the Prayer after the Lord\u2019s Prayer in the received version of the Liturgy of Chrysostom. (This prayer was originally a dismissal prayer for those not receiving the Eucharist.) Here, we thank <\/strong>God again for our existence, our life and ask Him to \u201cguide the course of our lives for our benefit\u201d[3]. (Today we use a replacement phrase, \u201cdistribute these Gifts here spread forth, unto all of us for good,\u201d that, while praiseworthy, shifts the original focus of the prayer\u2014of asking God to guide our lives.) Our God is a companion with us on our journey. Like a good parent, our God is with us when we begin to crawl, guides us for our first steps in life, lets us go free when we want to run and picks us up when we fall. Our God celebrates our achievements and grieves at our struggles. Even when we turn away from Him, our God is waiting for our return. Like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, our God is not only waiting for us to return, but runs towards us, inviting us\u2014again and again\u2014to this Heavenly Banquet to feast with the entire Body of Christ. And for all of this, we are thankful<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, our God is not only waiting for us to return, but runs towards us, inviting us\u2014again and again\u2014to this Heavenly Banquet to feast with the entire Body of Christ. And for all of this, we are thankful<\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Justin the Martyr, First Apology<\/em> Chapter 67, accessed 3\/6\/2021, https:\/\/www.newadvent.org\/fathers\/0126.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[2] All liturgical references are from the Service Book of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church according to the use of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America<\/em> (Englewood Hills, New Jersey: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, 1987).<\/p>\n

[3] The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom<\/em>, trans. Faculty of Hellenic College\/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Mass.: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1985), 28.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*This reflection is adapted from a sermon given at St. Mary Orthodox Church, Cambridge, Mass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are we doing when we gather together as the Body of Christ? And, more importantly, why? From the earliest accounts of our Eucharistic celebration, we know that Christians gathered on the Lord\u2019s Day to read \u201cthe memoirs of the Apostles or the prophets\u201d (which, in the received tradition of the Orthodox Church, is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":54879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,1321,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eastern-liturgy","category-homilies","category-liturgical-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nLet Us Give Thanks to the Lord... - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord... - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What are we doing when we gather together as the Body of Christ? And, more importantly, why? From the earliest accounts of our Eucharistic celebration, we know that Christians gathered on the Lord\u2019s Day to read \u201cthe memoirs of the Apostles or the prophets\u201d (which, in the received tradition of the Orthodox Church, is the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-10T03:17:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-16T15:20:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Teva Regule\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Teva Regule\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Teva Regule\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aeb44d847ed317dbc00c58abc7d36223\"},\"headline\":\"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord…\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-10T03:17:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-16T15:20:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1565,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Eastern Liturgy\",\"Homilies\",\"Liturgical Spirituality\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/\",\"name\":\"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord... - Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-10T03:17:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-16T15:20:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1900,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"The Hospitality of Abraham and Sarah\u2014Andrei Rublev\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2021\\\/03\\\/09\\\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord…\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"description\":\"Worship, Wit & Wisdom\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Home\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg\",\"width\":1340,\"height\":209,\"caption\":\"Home\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/aeb44d847ed317dbc00c58abc7d36223\",\"name\":\"Teva Regule\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/TevaHeadshotBlack-25752-webres-96x96.jpeg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/TevaHeadshotBlack-25752-webres-96x96.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/TevaHeadshotBlack-25752-webres-96x96.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Teva Regule\"},\"description\":\"Teva Regule received her M. Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and her Ph. D. in Systematic Theology from Boston College and now is an adjunct instructor at her alma mater. Her doctoral work focused on liturgical theology and history. Throughout her life, she has been an active member of the Orthodox Church. At present, she serves as President of the Orthodox Theological Society in America (OTSA) as well as on the board of the St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess, an initiative that aims to educate the faithful about the historical female diaconate and advocate for its revival to meet the ministerial needs of the church and society for today. She also holds advanced degrees in music and computer science.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/tregule\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord... - Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord... - Home","og_description":"What are we doing when we gather together as the Body of Christ? And, more importantly, why? From the earliest accounts of our Eucharistic celebration, we know that Christians gathered on the Lord\u2019s Day to read \u201cthe memoirs of the Apostles or the prophets\u201d (which, in the received tradition of the Orthodox Church, is the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/","og_site_name":"Home","article_published_time":"2021-03-10T03:17:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-16T15:20:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1900,"height":2560,"url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Teva Regule","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Teva Regule","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/"},"author":{"name":"Teva Regule","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aeb44d847ed317dbc00c58abc7d36223"},"headline":"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord…","datePublished":"2021-03-10T03:17:11+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-16T15:20:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/"},"wordCount":1565,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Eastern Liturgy","Homilies","Liturgical Spirituality"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/","name":"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord... - Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-03-10T03:17:11+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-16T15:20:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg","width":1900,"height":2560,"caption":"The Hospitality of Abraham and Sarah\u2014Andrei Rublev"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/09\/let-us-give-thanks-to-the-lord\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord…"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","name":"Home","description":"Worship, Wit & Wisdom","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#organization","name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/cropped-BlogHeaderFinal2.jpg","width":1340,"height":209,"caption":"Home"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/#\/schema\/person\/aeb44d847ed317dbc00c58abc7d36223","name":"Teva Regule","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/TevaHeadshotBlack-25752-webres-96x96.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/TevaHeadshotBlack-25752-webres-96x96.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/TevaHeadshotBlack-25752-webres-96x96.jpeg","caption":"Teva Regule"},"description":"Teva Regule received her M. Div. from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and her Ph. D. in Systematic Theology from Boston College and now is an adjunct instructor at her alma mater. Her doctoral work focused on liturgical theology and history. Throughout her life, she has been an active member of the Orthodox Church. At present, she serves as President of the Orthodox Theological Society in America (OTSA) as well as on the board of the St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess, an initiative that aims to educate the faithful about the historical female diaconate and advocate for its revival to meet the ministerial needs of the church and society for today. She also holds advanced degrees in music and computer science.","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/author\/tregule\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Icon-TrinityRublev-croppedwborder-reduced-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54878"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54949,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54878\/revisions\/54949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}