Ξένες γλώσσες

There was a lot of talk in January about Jefferson Bethke’s “Why I hate religion but love Jesus” spoken word video. Since it was posted on January 14, it’s been viewed over twenty million times on Youtube. A lot of Orthodox (and other Christians) have responsed to it. Not one of those responses – not even the one for which I wrote the script – actually acknowledges that Jefferson Bethke might have a point. Jefferson Bethke In an interview after the release of the video, Mr. Bethke said “If you went through the entire poem and replaced the word religion with either legalism or self-righteousness or hypocrisy, it would have not changed my intention or the heart of that poem whatsoever. ...

First version: An undignified Trinity Once upon all the time, there’s God. And from some time there’s human beings. But the reports coming from Earth about the state of humankind are increasingly distressing. The human race is going from bad to worse, despite all God’s efforts, through the various representatives whom He’s sent from time to time to bring it back to its senses. In the face of this anomalous situation, the Holy Trinity meets. It decides to hear the views of people themselves on the subject and to discuss suggestions on how to get round the predicament. In a few days, the representative of humankind arrived, an outstanding personality, a wise Counsellor of the Emperor, who enjoyed great prestige among ordinary people. ...

If Christians have the true faith but no works of faith to show for it, then their faith is in vain and useless.

The last hour of daylight and we’re taking the children for a walk, catching the final rays of light before the sun sets behind the horizon. And she tells me about a woman she met, a fellow pilgrim at the monastery. How she grew up in communist Russia, lost her parents at an early age. Atheism all around her except the quiet presence of her grandmother. And the interior life of this babushka radiated on her exterior gentle hope. Always with Christ, always hidden. Always entered into the closet of her heart, door shut and living the spiritual life in secret. And the Heavenly Father rewarded those around her, opened their hearts. Her quiet ways spoke grace clear, filled the empty ...

Anyone who has not been comatose for the last several weeks has heard of the “Occupy Movement”, which began with the call to “occupy Wall Street” and then spread to other cities in the U.S. and Canada. I suspect that whether or not one’s city has had their main street or social venue “occupied” depends largely upon the relative size of the city. My own neighboring city of Vancouver has been occupied. The town of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, I think, has not. In my area, the Occupy Movement has fizzled somewhat; the movement has moved on (as movements are wont to do). I suspect it had a bit to do with the cold weather that comes in a Canadian winter, and ...

The most famous Christmas cookies in Greece are the traditional melomakarona and kourabiedes. Here we present the recipes for the most tasty way of cooking them, as a treat for friends and relatives. Happy cooking! Melomakarona (Christmas honey cookies) Ingredients: 1½ cups of oil 1½ cups of cooking fat 1 cup of sugar ¾ cup of orange juice ¼ cup of cognac 2 teaspoons of orange zest 2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 teaspoon of baking soda 8 cups of all purpose flour For the syrup: 2 cups of honey 2 cups of sugar 2 cups of water For the garnish 1½ cups of finely chopped walnuts, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon of ground cloves Method: Blend or mix the first six ingredients on high speed for four minutes. Sieve the flour, baking powder and soda into a mixing bowl. ...

Don’t you dare despise people because they’re sinners and don’t be unrelenting, because all you’ll do is deepen their wounds. Better to correct them with advice aimed at stopping the harm, or keeping it within reasonable limits.

Elder Germanos was born in the village of Avgorou in the Famagusta region of Cyprus in 1906, to God-fearing parents, Nikolaos and Margarita Hatzigeorgis. When, as a child, he read the life of Saint Ioannis the Hut-Dweller, he was moved to take the decision to follow the monastic way of life.  At the age of 16 he entered the Monastery of Stavrovouni. He displayed exemplary zeal and remarkable obedience as a novice monk. He was  given the blessing of the habit at the age of 24 and his name was changed from Georgios to Monk Germanos. He was ordained deacon the following year, tonsured as a Great Schema monk at the age of 29 and ordained hieromonk when he was 38 ...

‘When Abraham was called, by faith…’ As is the case every year, the Epistle reading for the Sunday before the Nativity of Christ focuses on faith. It consists of two excerpts from chapter 11 of Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews (verses 9-10 and 32-40) in which the Apostle highlights the reality of trust in God. What is the relationship between the faith of Abraham, Sarah, the Judges and the Prophets of Israel and the imminent event of the Nativity? Why has the Church set it as the Epistle reading for this Sunday? We shall have to seek the answer to this in the fact of the Nativity and its significance for our world and for us as people. This event marks a break in human ...

The Church is our home, a place where we should feel comfortable, and at ease. It is also God’s house and is a temple set aside for worship of the Holy Trinity. Although times have changed and we have become a very casual society, this attitude can not be allowed to influence how we dress to worship God. Our way of dressing for church should reflect our desire to offer our very best to Christ. Just as we want to act in ways that demonstrate the centrality of Christ in our lives, our dress should show forth the modesty that is befitting a Christian. Just as we take special care to dress for formal social occasions, or job interviews, how much more ...

Evaluate things not according to their shape or color, by their content. And evaluate people not according to their position or their wealth, but by their heart, where the emotions, the will and the intellect join together.

The emphasis given by Orthodox theology to the creation of people as images of the Image of God, is directly related to the Orthodox understanding of the concept of rights. As creations of God (Matth. 19, 14; Acts 17, 28), people have been made with the potential to resemble our Creator and to share features of His mode of existence. We act with other people in a free social relationship of love, without the necessity for legal constraints, social conventions, limitations and boundaries. These are parameters which are set in order to limit the chances of rights being infringed. For the Christian, God isn’t considered to be merely the Creator, but the Father of all of us; therefore all people are ...

With what He suffered – voluntarily - the Lord gave us examples of silence, patience, endurance and love.

A round white mound, frosted with powdered sugar and decorated with candied almonds, sits on top of a silver platter with a thin lit candle in the center of it. Is it someone’s birthday? No, it’s the anniversary of someone’s death. It’s the almost weekly macabre reminder of our eventual demise, decay, and doom. Likely the strangest ritual a convert to Orthodoxy witnesses is the memorial service (a mnemosynon or panikhida) following the Divine Liturgy. Other than perhaps a vicar offering a brief petition at a grave side funeral for the departed —that the deceased may “rest in peace”—prayers for the dead are absent from Protestant practice. They tend to believe once someone passes from this life then it’s too late ...

THE REALLY GOOD NEWS When people are out of sorts, the last thing they usually want to hear is bad news. On the contrary, they want some good news, to give them a lift, to give them the courage to get on with life. Incontrovertible proof of this truth is the recent change of circumstance of many of our fellow citizens . You hear lots of people saying, for example: ‘I just don’t want to watch the news any more… it’s all so depressing’. Or, on the other hand, they shout: ‘At last, some good news… That’s made my day… It’s put me in a good mood’. And while we’re on the lookout for some joyful news, along come the holidays. People ...

Jesus, Son of God, have mercy upon me. Be a fountain for my thirsting soul.

In the text by Saint Nil Sorskij which we published recently on the passions of avarice, anger, sorrow and sloth, we read: “In order to defeat the spirit of ingratitude and blasphemy we say: ‘Get behind me, Satan. I worship my Lord and God and I serve Him alone’”. This is a familiar theme from as far back as the earliest revelations of God to the people of Israel in the Old Testament (e.g. Exodus and Deuteronomy: “You shall have no other gods before me”, and, ibid: “for I am a jealous God”), and continuing through the New Testament. When this teaching came into conflict with the state religion of imperial Rome, thousands of Christians- and Jews- were martyred because ...

Jesus Praying While getting to know someone you might ask, “Do you go to church?” It is increasingly common to hear the response, “Oh, I’m not religious, but I am spiritual.” Your acquaintance may go on to explain he finds religion to be too hypocritical, legalistic, and full of strife. “Look at all the wars that have been due to religion!” he exclaims, “And I don’t want some preacher telling me how to live my life when he can’t follow his own rules!” When asked what he means by being spiritual, the answer is something like, “I believe there is a life-force, I meditate, and occasionally I read books about spirituality; so I don’t need religion.” Has religion become passe? Is ...