Once, King Charles II visited John Milton when the great poet was old and obscure. Earlier, the King’s father was executed by the Puritans. The King was angry at the poet for siding with them and supporting their cause. “Your blindness is a judgment from God for the part you took against my father,” said […]

Last week we talked about the theme of community in the Lord’s Prayer. The Gospel reading for this Sunday continues to explore the important topic of community and invites us to reflect and examine it in the context of stewardship. The Parable of the Rich Fool is about a man who had a tremendously successful […]

The Gospel reading for this Sunday comes to us from St. Luke chapter 11. It is the story where the disciples of Jesus approach him with a surprising request, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). One would assume that the disciples surely knew how to pray considering how close they were to Jesus and […]

About a week ago, when I was on my way home from church, I was listening to the local NPR station in the car. There was a discussion among the host and guest TV, movie critics about the new season of HBO’s show Succession. I was passively listening as the critics dissected and analyzed the […]

In the Seinfeld episode titled ‘The Opposite,’ George vents to Jerry that every decision he has ever made was wrong and that his life is the exact opposite of what it should have been. Jerry teases George suggesting that if his every instinct is wrong then the opposite must be the right thing to do. […]

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” – Matthew 7:7 A quick google search reveals that there is a lot of controversy and differences of opinion on whether Christians should celebrate Halloween. There are three main responses to Halloween among […]

In the Summer of 2002, the Time magazine featured a cover story titled, “The Bible and the Apocalypse: Why More Americans Are Reading and Talking About the End of the World” (Nancy Gibbs, Time, July 1, 2002). The article documented and explored the rise of interest in the end-time discussions among the general public in North […]

Last week we talked about how the ritual of the Kiss of Peace reveals and teaches us that God often touches and transforms our lives in the most profound ways through the ordinary people around us. This week we continue our journey as we switch the focus a little and examine how this ancient ritual […]

Every part of our ancient Badarak is special and important. But many of us probably also have their favorite parts – moments, hymns and prayers of Badarak we connect with on a deeper and more intimate level. For me, that special part of the Divine Liturgy is ‘Kreesdos ee mech’ – the kiss of peace. […]