Light of the East

Among the many gifts of both lungs of the Church, East and West, we here at Light of the East have our ten favorite gifts that the Eastern Churches offer to the whole Church and the world.

Both inside and outside of the Church, hope, self-sacrifice and courage, much needed in our world, seem to be so scarce. Our two guests Rinju Chenet and Kameron Traxler serve as signs of hope for the Church and the world.

There is a lot of discussion today in the Latin Rite about priestly celibacy. A monk from an Eastern Catholic monastery will share a perspective on this that the discussion to baptism and the episcopacy.

There is a humanitarian disaster on the Southern Border of the United States of America. For a simple solution look no further than the Liturgy of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

For young people seeking spirituality and the mystical, our guest Anthony Dragani, a Byzantine deacon and professor of religious studies will tell young people they need not look outside the Church.

The Feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God into Heaven offers an insightful example of the two lungs of the Church, east and west approach things differently but arrive at the same point.

Everyone knows about Michaelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. There is a Byzantine answer to the Sistine Chapel in an ancient church that has recently been turned into a mosque.

The raging of the sea, the raging of nations, fire in the sky, just some of the warnings of the end times. Are the end times really near? The answer is both yes and we don't know.

Every Eastern Christian church has its own ancient and indigenous chant which is sung by the faithful during liturgical services. This gives cantors a special place in Eastern Christian Liturgy.

We can have full confidence that a Church whose dogma's came about from Councils and not from a mere person is indeed the fullness of the Body of Christ on Earth.

We revisit a fundamental question that is often asked and often not well understood. What exactly is meant by the different rites of the Catholic Church? How and why are they different.

Wow! It's sure is hot during these dog days of summer. Want a really unique vacation? Plan the rest of your summer according to the Liturgical life of the Church.

The spiritual masters of the eastern monastic tradition taught that we must think about our own death a few minutes each day. This may be frightening and can certainly make us wonder about the mystery of the afterlife.

Ah yes, the hazy, lazy days of summer of barbeques, brats and beer. However, for the next several days our menus will have to be fish and vegetables instead of brats and burgers

Do you think you can become a saint? Do you want to be? Have you asked your children these questions? Being a saint is actually our true origins and destiny. It was so from the beginning is now, and shall ever be.

Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, who are everywhere present and filling all things, come and dwell within us. Cleanse us of our sins and save our Souls O Gracious One.

The Nicene Creed, as proclaimed at every Byzantine Divine Liturgy, has a significance and relevancy today as it did during its beginnings when the Church Fathers gathered at Nicea in 325 AD.

The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven unites our earthly nature with Heaven. During this same week the Feasts of Ss. Cyril and Methodius unite both lungs of the Church, east and west.

The sanctity of marriage and the whole order of man and woman finds its context in the Liturgy and iconography of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. His Resurrection is also our Resurrection

Have you been to so many doctors, taken so many treatments and medication and nothing seems to work. The resurrected body of Jesus Christ and Liturgy of the Church can actually offer real healing.

This week, through the liturgy of the Church we become the Myrrh-Bearing Women who are the first to hear of Christ's Resurrection. The fact that it was women is very providential.

In many Eastern Catholic Churches this Sunday is Thomas Sunday but also known in Latin Rite Churches as Divine Mercy Sunday. Either way, God's mercy will be shown through the doubt of Thomas.

Our Lord has Risen from the dead! And we will help you rise to a new level of joy and financial freedom through a Biblically based spirituality of giving.

The Week of the Bridegroom is upon us. It is preceded by the raising of Lazarus and Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Two events that anticipate what will happen only one week later.

Historically an older generation is often skeptical about the "younger generation" and this is perhaps more true today than ever before. Yet, in salvation history it was often the "youth" that God called upon most.