It’s been a month since I flew home from Canada. I think it’s a good time for me to reflect on the month I spent in service at St Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. I served there with Abouna Athanasius Iskander and with the blessing of H.G. Bishop Angaelos, H.G. Bishop Mina […]
I started reading a book today by an Eastern Orthodox bishop in the USA. He noted that more people who identified themselves as Orthodox never attended Church and did not associate themselves with any parish than those who did attend, however infrequently. Of course there are many who no longer even identify themselves as Orthodox, […]
Most of us have some sense that we need to pray for things, and for the people who are dear to us, so that God will do good for us and for them. Most of us have also experienced the distress that comes when it seems that our prayers are not answered, or even that […]
Matthew 6:19-30 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. Matt 6:19 This morning I would like us to consider the passage we have just heard from the Gospel of St Matthew. It seems to me that it is a passage which […]
We have seen that Lent is not all about us, it is meant to be a time in which we concentrate on God in prayer and service. We have also seen that we are not as strong as we think we are and must begin and end our observance of this season by seeking the […]
As I posted yesterday, the first secret is that it is not all about you, but is all about God. Stop thinking about yourself and ask for the grace to be occupied heart and mind with God. If we are occupied with ourselves during the season of Lent then we have entirely missed the point. […]
Great Lent i now upon us. It began for those of us in the Coptic Orthodox Church on Monday, 7th March this year. Over the next weeks I hope to produce a series of reflections based on the Scripture readings set for each day. But I also want to consider the meaning and practice of […]
It would be hard to consider developing an Orthodox spirituality rooted in the practice of the Church throughout the ages without introducing the practice of fasting. It was Jesus Christ Himself who said, ‘When you fast…’, not ‘If you fast…’. In the West the concept of self-denial sits ill at ease with the dominant philosophy […]
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In this second session today I would like us to think about what it practically means to become those spiritual men and women who offer worship in spirit and truth. St Cyril says, Through the Gospel teaching […]
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. I received many interesting and thoughtful questions from the members of this group even before I arrived in Canada, and I have tried to make time for us to consider many of them in the various meetings […]