Salvific

Check the Reference Pages link in the right hand column for a listing of all the upcoming New Testament Excerpts.

The Dynamic Horologion And Psalter

This site provides dynamic access to an Orthodox Horologion and Psalter. The Psalter is a Septuagint translation called "The Psalter According to the Seventy" by The Holy Transfiguration Monastery. The horologion prayers come from "The Great Horologion" also published by The Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Both are used with their kind permission. Finally the daily Troparion and Kontakion come from the MENOLOGION 3.0 program. Please click on the links on the left to explore the site.

via orthodox.seasidehosting.st

This is a great side for praying the daily office (new style).

The End is Near

Well, the day of rejoicing approaches. It also comes as a day of reckoning. Even for the children. We teach them to reflect on "naughty or nice" and we give them gifts regardless.

May your keeping of the bright day of Jesus' birth, the Nativity of the Christ according to the flesh, be a day for you of many gifts in the Holy Spirit, regardless if you were, or are, naughty or nice!

Our New Testament Challenge is wrapping-up, too. I will post once or twice next week to review how that went.

Until, then: Merry Christmas!

The Life of St. Spyridon: Beginning the Homestretch of the Fast

This Sunday we both commemorate our Father among the Saints, Spyridon the Wonderworker (read his Life here) and intensify our preparations for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ. May God bless each of us as we make our way toward that Joyous Day.

Also, you may have noticed a drop-off in posts here over the last week. That is because I took ill with a sinus infection (blech!). I have my prescription for an antibiotic and I'm currently feeling "right as rain." Hopefully, that means you all will have some more Salvific blog tidbits to read in the next couple of weeks.

I ask your God-pleasing prayers on that account.

One-stop Orthodox Advent/Christmas resource

Wow! Want to know about Advent and Christmas in Orthodoxy? Follow this link: http://shrbl.in/f5r2k6.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

I'm writing this post on my iPhone at 10:06 p.m. on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas. Over the last few days I've completely lost the rhythm of reading in the New Testament that I had during the first half of the fast. [That's right. The Advent Fast is half done.] After I finish this, God willing, I plan to read until I catch up.

By our front door there are four pair of shoes tonight. They have been placed there in hopes that St. Nicholas will make his annual visit with presents of fruits candies and coins. Sometimes he even brings a stick wrapped in foil, though for the life of me I can't say why. I think my wife knows.

Years ago, when I was a parishioner and not a priest, our priest's wife told me how her then seven year old daughter mentioned on December sixth that she had greeted the holy bishop Nicholas when he came to their apartment door. The girl's mother, our priest's wife, remarked to her with some mild sarcasm about what an active imagination she had and asked if he was wearing a red suit and carrying toys. The girl innocently replied, "Of course not mother! I heard bells in the hallway, so I went to the door and there he was inside. And he looked just like he's supposed to: wearing his vestments with a staff in one hand and the incense swinger in the other. He smiled at me and then left without even opening the door." The girl's astonished mother, surprised by her daughter's comment, all the same replied calmly, "Oh yes, dear. What else could he have been dressed in. How silly of me."

Here's hoping for that same childlike innocence for us all during the rest of the Advent preparations. Or as the Sponge Bob Square Pants Christmas song says, "It's Christmastime: Don't Be a Jerk."

On Wealth and Poverty: why Poor, Sore, Dog-licked Lazarus is our hero.

Well, the challenge to read through the New Testament in just under a month and a half continues. It's starting to feel like a challenge now, especially after the distractions of the Thanksgiving weekend.

On Wealth and Poverty

If you're keeping up, or just a few days behind (like me!), you'll have seen how much attention the Holy Evangelist Luke gives to questions of wealth and poverty. We see this most obviously, perhaps, in St. Luke's inclusion of the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man.

What, More Reading?

A wonderful study of this parable can be found here. It's by Dr. Brian E. Fitzgerald, PhD., and was presented to the adult study group at St. Philip Orthodox Church in Souderton, Pennsylvania, about eight years ago. Take a few moments to read through it (as if more reading is what we need!) But really, it's worth it. You will be enriched.

The article is a presentation of the work of St. John Chrysostom (meaning John the "Golden-Mouth") on Jesus' Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man in the Gospel of St. Luke. In his preaching, St. John Chrysostom emphasizes the stark contrast between poor Lazarus and the rich man who feasted sumptuously everyday. He employs this as one of the touchstones of the teaching on the use of wealth and poverty toward our own salvation. Here's a spoiler before you read Dr. Fitzgerald's essay: "wealth" and "poverty" are re-defined by the saintly Chrysostom as spiritual goods more than material ones.

Questions for You to Consider

These three questions are addressed in the article:

1. What makes wealth and/or poverty salvific? Why is poor, sore, dog-licked Lazarus, shown to us by Christ Jesus as a good example? 
2. Why and in what ways is the anonymous "rich man" a bad example?
3. How does each of us Christians put these examples into practice in working out our own salvation?

Your "Take" On It?

Now that you've read the parable in the gospel according to St. Luke (16: 19-31) and perhaps also read some thoughts about St. John Chrysostom's reading of it, what are your own answers to these questions?

 

 

 

 

John 1-5: Today's New Testament Excerpt

John 1-5

Luke 22-24: Today's New Testament Excerpt

Luke 22-24

Luke 17-21: Today's New Testament Excerpt

Luke 17-21

Luke 12-16: Today's New Testament Excerpt

Luke 12-16