The Jerusalem Above

One of the most common complaints that people have about Christians throughout the world is the disunity and division that are so common among Churches today. The numbers here are truly staggering. Our Lord Jesus Christ founded one Church as his one Body, united by the one Holy Spirit. Despite this unity that is at the center of our faith, divisions among Christians only continue to increase. Today, there are over 35,000 denominations within the Protestant world. This number continues to grow every year as divisions increase and groups splinter off from one another. You can see in this trend a clear failure to live up to the appeal that St. Paul gave to the people of Corinth when he saw division there: "That there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment," (1 Cor. 1:10). As Orthodox Christians, can we provide a better example of the "unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3) that is our calling in Christ? ...

Whenever a building is put together, there are certain things that need to be in place before construction can begin. If a building is constructed at random, then it will not stand to test of time, but will fall apart as soon as the first storm hits. The construction team has to know what kind of building they are going to produce. Homes are constructed very differently from stores, and skyscrapers need special considerations. Then, an architect needs to draw up a blueprint that tells the construction team what the final product should look like. Buildings are always constructed with a purpose and a plan. Our lives are very similar to the construction of a building. When we focus all of our effort on earthly things like wealth, possessions, or reputation, we build our lives into one type of building. This is what the man in today's Gospel is doing when he decides to build large storehouses for all his material goods. All the earthly goods that we acquire are temporary. When we pass...

What do we do when we find ourselves losing hope? Our lives today give us plenty of opportunities to fall into despair and hopelessness. How do we keep our hope when our circumstances seem so difficult? How can we be a people of hope, making our own what St. Paul calls our "steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ," (1 Thess. 1:3)? Today's Gospel reading gives us a lesson on hopeless situations. We see a woman who has been ill for twelve years, and who has become poor and socially outcast because of her illness. We see also a man whose 12-year-old daughter, his only child, lies on her deathbed. Both of them have lost hope, and they come to Jesus in their hopelessness. In both of these situations, Jesus brings an unexpected result. When the woman who had been ill for so long touches Jesus’ garment, he makes the new creation known to her. “Daughter, your faith has made you well,” (Luke 8:48). When she touched him, according to Old Testament purity laws, he should hi...

Think of all the different ways we use the word 'love'. 'Love' describes a whole spectrum of different relationships. I love my friends, and I love my child, and I love my parents, and I love my wife. These are four very different relationships, but we use the word 'love' to describe all of them. We even talk about love outside of human relationships. Some people love golf, others love hamburgers, still others love democracy, and some people love Hawaii. How can one word, 'love,' be used for all these different things? In Greek, there are at least four kinds of love. Φιλία ( filia ) is the love that a person has for their friends. This is the kind of love that makes people feel like they're part of a team. Στοργή ( storgi ) is a kind of doting, affectionate love. This is the kind of love that a mother often has for her child. Έρος ( eros ) is erotic, sexual love. This kind of love is an expression of our desire for another person. But the highest, th...