Pascha Homily of Saint John Chrysostom

May 2, 2022 0 Comments

Traditionally this homily of the great bishop of Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom is read at the Easter Vigil. In fact, the Church asks that the priest make this homily his own in the sense that the theology St. John speaks is the authentic, orthodox teaching of the Church. The experience of the saint of the …

Blessed Pascha 2022

April 17, 2022 0 Comments

Cover image is that of the Gospel of Tsaishi, 17th century, silver foil, 24 x 20 x 4.5 cm, Georgia Cultural History Museum, T’bilisi, Georgia.

The Journey to Holy Pascha 2022

February 6, 2022 0 Comments

Sunday of the Man Born Blind

May 17, 2020 0 Comments

Today we hear the proclamation of the Gospel narrative of the man born blind. The story of the Man Born Blind is the third Sunday Gospel in Pascha about the mystery of baptism. This gospel is very clear, “Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his …

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

May 10, 2020 0 Comments

The theme of baptism continues in this Sunday’s Gospel, re-affirming that Pascha is a feast of resurrection and of baptism, being born into eternal life. The center of Jesus’ conversation with this unnamed woman (the Church later gave her the name Photine, the “enlightened woman”) is about water. They met at Jacob’s well, a place …

Midway to Pentecost 2020

May 6, 2020 0 Comments

Today, May 6, in the Byzantine Church following the Gregorian calendar, it is the feast of half-Pentecost (half of the Pascal Time). Let’s attend to the Gospel text of today (John 7: 14-30): verse: 14: We were already in the middle of the week of the feast when Jesus went up to the Temple; and …

Sunday of the Paralytic Man

May 3, 2020 0 Comments

There are six Sundays in the forty day celebration of the Resurrection (corresponding to the forty days until the Ascension as recorded in the Gospel of Luke). The first three Sundays have a gospel of the Resurrection and the second three a gospel with a baptismal theme. In our day the baptismal theme of the …