Our Life in Christ

What accounts for the differences between the Eastern and Western churches? Many things of course, but primarily the development in the West - through those such as Anselm and Aquinas - of an emphasis on human reason and intellect in the pursuit of theological understanding. Returning briefly to our discussion of Rome and the Eastern Church, we contrast rationalism with the Eastern tradition that bows to the Mystery of the Incomprehensible, that proclaims that "theologians" are pure in heart through love of God (the eastern Church grants the title of Theologian to only three Saints in all of Church History), and we begin to see how steeped our modern culture and we ourselves are in scholastic thinking.

In this program, we revisit Orthodox Holy Week with selected passages from the Holy Tradition - in the hope of trying to convey the richness of the "conversation" between God and the Church. For Christ invites us to go with Him to the Holy Cross, and we find ourselves both willing and unwilling, like the repentant harlot and the betrayer Judas, like the good thief and the blind and unbelieving crowd. Glory to God in Christ! He overcomes the wrath and sins of mankind through love and humility in His Suffering and tramples down Death by Death.

In this program, we revisit Orthodox Holy Week with selected passages from the Holy Tradition - in the hope of trying to convey the richness of the "conversation" between God and the Church. For Christ invites us to go with Him to the Holy Cross, and we find ourselves both willing and unwilling, like the repentant harlot and the betrayer Judas, like the good thief and the blind and unbelieving crowd. Glory to God in Christ! He overcomes the wrath and sins of mankind through love and humility in His Suffering and tramples down Death by Death.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! This is the anthem of Pascha, and since it was in fact Holy Week and Pascha last week, we have decided to "go lite" this program hour and air a 20-minute interview segment we did last month with local Phoenix evangelical drive-time radio program host Andrew Tallman in lieu of a full study hour. So enjoy, and next week we'll tackle another topic. A blessed Bright Week to all.

Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! This is the anthem of Pascha, and since it was in fact Holy Week and Pascha last week, we have decided to "go lite" this program hour and air a 20-minute interview segment we did last month with local Phoenix evangelical drive-time radio program host Andrew Tallman in lieu of a full study hour. So enjoy, and next week we'll tackle another topic. A blessed Bright Week to all.

We finish this Lenten series discussing the virtues of patience, love, and not judging our brother. Again, the Orthodox axiom of working out the virtues in the body is true, and we learn that patience is not merely a passive state, but also requires spiritual/bodily effort to restrain evil thoughts/actions, choosing to perform God's will instead. Love for God, neighbor, enemies and the whole of creation is our aim, cultivated with our growing awareness of God's pure and captivating eros coming down from heaven. Engulfed in this love we lose interest in the world and adopt the humble mind of Christ, whose words on the Cross, "forgive them for they know not what they do," are to become our own towards all men.

We finish this Lenten series discussing the virtues of patience, love, and not judging our brother. Again, the Orthodox axiom of working out the virtues in the body is true, and we learn that patience is not merely a passive state, but also requires spiritual/bodily effort to restrain evil thoughts/actions, choosing to perform God's will instead. Love for God, neighbor, enemies and the whole of creation is our aim, cultivated with our growing awareness of God's pure and captivating eros coming down from heaven. Engulfed in this love we lose interest in the world and adopt the humble mind of Christ, whose words on the Cross, "forgive them for they know not what they do," are to become our own towards all men.

Following Chastity in the the list of virtues in St. Ephraim's prayer comes Humility. Reading from the Fathers, we find that humility is not merely a state of mind, but a mystery that comes about as the result of labors of the soul and body, mirroring the Incarnation itself, and so it is by nature incomprehensible. We look at humility and its opposite, pride and prelest. to try to gain even just a little more understanding of this virtue and why it is central to our life in Christ.

Following Chastity in the the list of virtues in St. Ephraim's prayer comes Humility. Reading from the Fathers, we find that humility is not merely a state of mind, but a mystery that comes about as the result of labors of the soul and body, mirroring the Incarnation itself, and so it is by nature incomprehensible. We look at humility and its opposite, pride and prelest. to try to gain even just a little more understanding of this virtue and why it is central to our life in Christ.

St. Ephraim begins the second half of his great prayer "Give rather a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant." Asking God to take our sinful passions away is followed by a petition to give us virtue, chastity being first in the order. In the Fathers, and especially St. John Climacus, we find that the virtues (which are in truth the energies of the Holy Spirit) act in our heart and are active through us through the deeds of the body surrendered to Christ. And chastity, rather than being limited to some quaint notion of sexual purity (true enough), is the virtue of wholeness in Christ which enables us to fight the passions fervently.

St. Ephraim begins the second half of his great prayer "Give rather a spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to Thy servant." Asking God to take our sinful passions away is followed by a petition to give us virtue, chastity being first in the order. In the Fathers, and especially St. John Climacus, we find that the virtues (which are in truth the energies of the Holy Spirit) act in our heart and are active through us through the deeds of the body surrendered to Christ. And chastity, rather than being limited to some quaint notion of sexual purity (true enough), is the virtue of wholeness in Christ which enables us to fight the passions fervently.

We continue our discussion of the famous Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian and his plea for God to remove from him the "lust for power" and "idle talk". As is made clear from the sayings of the Fathers cited here, these sins are so well-rooted in our normal, everyday lives that raising our self-awareness regarding how and how often we commit them is a significant Lenten undertaking.

We continue our discussion of the famous Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian and his plea for God to remove from him the "lust for power" and "idle talk". As is made clear from the sayings of the Fathers cited here, these sins are so well-rooted in our normal, everyday lives that raising our self-awareness regarding how and how often we commit them is a significant Lenten undertaking.

We continue our discussion of Great Lent by reviewing, with many quotes from the Church Fathers, the famous Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian that is used during all the weekday services. Writing in the 4th century, St. Ephraim's hymnography captures the Spirit of the Lenten Season and has been a vital standard for the Orthodox Church ever since. In its simplicity and penetrating quality we learn that we are at once helpless and in need of God's grace to overcome our sinful nature, and yet must also pursue repentance and the virtues in faith continually, to be both emptied and filled.

We continue our discussion of Great Lent by reviewing, with many quotes from the Church Fathers, the famous Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian that is used during all the weekday services. Writing in the 4th century, St. Ephraim's hymnography captures the Spirit of the Lenten Season and has been a vital standard for the Orthodox Church ever since. In its simplicity and penetrating quality we learn that we are at once helpless and in need of God's grace to overcome our sinful nature, and yet must also pursue repentance and the virtues in faith continually, to be both emptied and filled.