In the modern world we have seen our experience of community diminish even during our own life-times. We no longer live in places where we have a connection of family, culture, religion and history with most other people. Even our membership of social organisations, even our local Churches and congregations, now draw together people from […]
I was reading the Commentary of St Cyril of Alexandria concerning the Gospel of St John this afternoon. In one passage he discusses the Scripture which says… And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the Cross. And there was written upon it, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. It is […]
The problems faced by young people within the Orthodox Church are not unique to them. They are experienced by those with an Orthodox faith, those who belong to other Christian communities, those adhering to other religions, and by those with no faith at all except in a materialistic explanation of the universe. They are, to […]
We live in an age of great confusion. When I was a child in the 1960s, people would take time out of their lives, often before getting a job, to discover themselves, and usually failed. But now, just a generation later, it seems that most of the people around us are struggling to discover who […]
In our Orthodox Church this first Sunday of the fifty days of Pentecost is often called Thomas Sunday because of the Gospel which we have just heard read. We remember especially that St Thomas was not present when the Lord Jesus first appeared to the other disciples, and he insisted that he would not believe […]
We often discover that when one habitual sin becomes partly or completely overcome then the deeper root of that sin is exposed. In the case of many habitual sins it is essentially pride, self-will and self-indulgence. This can be especially the case in our feelings and attitudes towards others. Sometimes people appear to be unpleasant, […]
Matthew 6:19-30 The passage we have read from the Gospel of St Matthew seems to me to be full of opposites and full of choices. We are used to having to make choices in our lives. Where will we live? What job will we apply for? What subjects will we study at school or university? […]
In the passage from the Gospel today, we have heard our Lord Jesus Christ instruct us to pray for our enemies and put up with all manner of injustice and persecution. When there have been terrorist attacks in Egypt, and brothers and sisters in our Coptic Orthodox Church have lost their lives and been martyred, […]
There were many times that the Disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ asked questions of him, or of each other. Usually they had completely misunderstood what he was saying, and he had to correct them, or even challenge their wrong attitudes, such as when they wanted to know who was the greatest Disciple. But on […]
Today we keep the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple. We remember in the Gospel reading that the Holy Family are greeted by Simeon, who says those words which are repeated by the priest as he circles the altar, censing the Gospel, and are read in the Midnight Praises… […]