Light of the East

While the separation of Church and State has been enshrined in modern western culture there is one particular Eastern Church that can show us that this may not totally be a good thing.

The story of Jonah and the Ninevites like all stories in the Bible are not just history lessons, they are our stories today, our lived experience. This is particularly true today.

There is saint spelled with a small S and saint spelled with a capital S. The life of a baptized Christian is a journey toward turning the small S into a capital S

As we look forward to the Descent of the Holy Spirit, we will see how the Eastern Christian Churches are naturally charismatic.

Holy Days in the Church that occur within the week, it may be inconvienient to our schedules and other interests. But this is precisely why they are relevant to our lives.

The desire of Jesus Christ is that all might be one in Him. Our special guest will tell us of his own extraordinary efforts to bring about unity between the two lungs of the Church, east and west.

Do Eastern Catholics Pray the Rosary? The answer is a qualified "Yes." The Russian Saint Seraphin of Sarov passed down to us an Eastern form of Roseary which was lost and then recovered.

The question of the role and place of women in the Eastern Churches can be found, as always, in the liturgical life of the Church especially today, the Sunday of the ointment bearing women.

The remarkable events that we have witnessed in the life of Christ are not just history lessons. They are events of our own lives as the Church immerses us into the reality of the Scripture.

Before Christ resurrects from the dead, He first descends into Hell to defeat the power of death. Through the Jerusalem Matins service, we descend and ascend with Christ.

The Week of the Bridegroom has arrived and being further enhanced as this year the Feast of the Annunciation falls on the same day as the Death of Christ on the Cross.

The words of a young nun who was recently declared blessed provide insight and consolation for us during the times when we might experience dryness or desolation in our prayer.

The Byzantine Church will give equal time to men and women ascetics. Today we climb the Ladder of Divine Ascent with St. John Climacus and next Sunday we encounter a mysterious woman in the desert named Mary.

There Pope and the Patriarch came together in their historic meeting in Cuba for an entire constellation of reasons. Most importantly they came together out of concern for Christians everywhere.

On what is the second Sunday of Lent in many Eastern Churches, St. Gregory Palamas teaches us about God's utter incomprehensibility and his knowability through his uncreated energies.

The 1st Sunday of Lent in the Byzantine Liturgical Calendar is a day of triumph for sacred art, the true faith itself and for those martyrs and monks who gave it courageous witness.

Many Eastern Catholic Churches will begin Lent this coming Sunday evening. Lent is also known as the bright sadness marked by intense fasting, deep prayer and increased charity.

It is Byzantine Mardi Gras, the Sunday of Meat Faire and we look forward to the feast of the encounter of Our Lord in the temple with Simeon.

With the growing awareness and appreciation of Byzantine iconography has come certain questions tha we will begin to answer such as, "Are icons 'painted' or are they 'written'"? And, can ANYONE paint an icon?

The Eastern Christian Churches, Catholic and Orthodox face similar challenges of both growth and survival. These challenges are best met by taking an honest look at the gifts of these Churches.

A new year in both the civil calendar and the liturgical calendar has us looking back in gratitude yet forward in the spirit of manifestation, illumination and renewal.

With the help of our special guest, we will look back on what has been accomplished in the area of ecumenism between the two lunges of the Church, East and West and where this new year might take us.

God is with us. But what does that mean for us personally? To help us answer that question the Byzantine Church puts three special people before our eyes on the Sunday after the Nativity.

All families have their story, from sinners to saints. So it is with the family of Jesus Christ. But God still works out His divine plan, which is the miracle of this season.

During this season of love and mercy, in this jubilee year of mercy, we will hear the merciful words of a Pope and prisoner and learn how we are indeed performing a corporal act of mercy.