Again, I thought of writing my own reflection, but I think I’d rather just share, for those who have not read it or heard it, the Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom. This is read every year in every Orthodox parish on Pascha (Easter), and it is one of the highlights of the night. (We begin at 11pm.) Pascha, for us, is a season that begins with the feast today and does not end until forty days later on the feast of the Ascension. Thus, I’m sure I will have plenty of time for my own words. But for now, I will simply say that all the hope and joy and triumph and peace of Christianity is summed up in the single phrase: “Christ is risen!” Continue reading
Tag Archive: resurrection
The monks praised a brother to Abba Antony. But Antony went to him and tested whether he could endure abuse. And when he perceived that he could not bear it, he said: “You are like a house with a highly decorated facade, where burglars have stolen all the furniture out of the back door.”
~ Sayings of the Desert Fathers 8.2
While not all rejection comes with whatever “abuse” St. Antony gave to the brother in this story, it can feel like abuse even when given in a spirit of love. The problem is the same: an easily bruised ego or “thin skin” combined with misplaced hope in ourselves. I’m pretty sure we’ve all been there, even the most praised among us. Continue reading
Everyday Asceticism 