Blog Posts
I had been looking so forward to Lent this year. That may seem a bit odd: people often speak about looking forward to the Paschal season, but Lent, with the fasting & looking inward, maybe not so much. But this year I really was: I planned to travel over to New Skete more frequently, and I couldn't wait for my first Pre-sanctified service of the season!
On the fourth Sunday of Great Lent in the Malankara Syriac Church, the Church remembers the Syrophoenician/Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15.21-30).
-----------
Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory forever.
Barkemor (Bless me O Lord) Achen, Deacons and Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On this fourth Sunday of our journey of the Great Lent and our journey to the Cross, the Church reminds us of a parent pleading to the Lord for her child.
Jesus comes to a land of Gentiles. What happens is that a Gentile woman (not of Jewish background) but a Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite woman comes to Jesus.
Delivered at the parish of the Sign of the Theotokos, Montreal, on 3/8/20
Reading: John 1: 43-51
Continuing our series about lessons we've learned in our first months as Axia Women. I'm hoping this one can be used to inform our clergy and hierarchs.
I wrote this because I wanted to understand why God lets us have disabilities. I have friends and family who have loved ones with disabilities, I visit nursing homes, and often pass people on the street who have some sort of special need. I am a second-year seminarian and it seemed like a good time to take a closer look.
Last week, Fordham University’s Orthodox Christian Studies Center hosted a panel on “The Female Diaconate and the Orthodox Church” at its Lincoln Center Campus in Manhattan. There was a strong turn-out for a chilly February evening, mostly of students and people from area churches. Unlike a similar event I attended in Philadelphia last March, the overall vibe was open and curious, and questions flowed thick and fast after the presentations.
I learned lectio divina on retreat at New Skete monastery, in Cambridge, NY. More than any other practice, it has changed my relationship with Christ and has created a pathway to dialogue with him. For all that, there's nothing complicated about it. It’s a simple, three-step practice, that goes like this: