Eastern Christian Insights

As we prepare for the coming nativity of Jesus, we need to follow the example of Blind Bartimaeus who opened his life to the Light of Christ in humility.

Approaching God's requirements as a simple checklist for eternal life will leave us, like the Rich Young Ruler, outside of the great joy of Christmas.

When we become distracted by the indulgence of our passions, we will be like the rich fool who was blind to the ultimate purpose of his life before God.

"Loving our neighbors as ourselves foreshadows the blessedness of the Kingdom where there are no hated foreigners."

Are we so spiritually blind that we are unable to see the resurrected Christ and to offer ourselves to others in sacrificial love?

The woman suffering from a physical ailment that made her ceremonially unclean is an example for us in how to approach Jesus in humility and faith.

Our favorite sins drive us into the isolation of the wilderness, away from the healing power of Jesus. Once healed, the best witness to the transforming power of Christ is the personal story of those set free.

What is the point of our lives according to Jesus?

Who do you think you are? Is it leading you more and more into the likeness of Jesus?

Jesus calls all to take up our cross and follow him for our entire life.

Each one of us are invited into new life in Christ. However, we must be willing to die to those things which hold us back if we are to become a 'new creation' in Christ like the Theotokos.

Self-centeredness is an act of idolatry, addressed by giving of ourselves and our desires to meet the needs of others.

Are you willing to look at what your life truly is like? It is the grace of God that moves us more and more into the life of Christ, crucifying our shame and despair.

Pride is one of the primary hinderances to our life in Christ. Instead, humility accepts the will of God in our lives, like the Theotokos, even if it makes look like fools to the world.

Observing the Feast of the Transfiguration means that we enter into our own change into the likeness of Jesus Christ through the many opportunities provided to us by the Church.

We must open the eyes of our souls to the truth of where we stand before Christ. And then, when we know our own inadequacy, it will be possible to offer ourselves truthfully to Him.

Fr. Philip explains how the hatred and rejection of other people in the name of Godliness leads to the hatred and rejection of our Lord Himself. He also discusses St. Timon and the plight of the people in Syria.

Jesus called his followers to become the light of the world by becoming holy, united through the healing and transforming grace of the One who is the Light of the World.

Being set free from those things which possess us is just the beginning of the process of salvation.

All disciples of Jesus are called to follow Him, in the power of the Holy Spirit, into a new life of holiness.

Christ calls us to ascend with Him into the Kingdom of Heaven, becoming like Him in His holiness even now in the Church.

Each of us are in need of the healing and illumination of our risen Lord, opening the eyes of our souls to himself.

How do you decided whether you measure up or not? Does shame or blame keep us from opening our souls to the new life offered by our Lord?

Along with the paralytic man, Jesus asks us, "Do you want to be healed?" Or have we become so accustomed to our illnesses that we no longer feel the need for healing and transformation?

The Myrrh-Bearers lived a life of service for the flourishing of the Church, much like the early Deacons, modeling the kind of life that all Christians are called to live.