211. Do we know what Jesus looked like?

The icon above is contemporary, available from https://www.trinitystores.com/artwork/christ-desert   Crete, c. 1550 Submit this question to the internet, and almost everybody will say: No, of course not. How could we possibly know that? All we know is that (if He existed, a few will say…) He was a First Century Jew. I think they’re wrong. […]

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210. The Dry Humor of Jesus – except for the time when it was very wet

Humor When I first went to college, a church of my denomination sponsored a supper for us newcomers. As we ate, one guy made a cute (clean!) remark. We laughed. The pastor looked at us severely and said: “Life is a serious matter. We should not make jokes about it.” We never went back. I […]

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209. Saint Panteleimon: The story of a Physician who didn’t charge his Patients

Let’s jump back to July 27, his feast day. Panteleimon, the Great Martyr and Unmercenary Healer How to pronounce Παντελεήμων? Not easy unless you’re Greek. Say “Pahn teh LEH-EE mohn” a few times slowly, and you’ll probably have it. It means “all merciful”. A “Great Martyr” (Μεγαλομάρτυς) is a martyr who has undergone dreadul tortures, has […]

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208. A Western Twentieth Century Orthodox Martyr: Maria of Paris

July 20 is the feast day of Mother Maria who died in 1945, seventy five years ago, in a Nazi gas chamber. On February 10, 1943, she was arrested by the Gestapo at her “monastic” house in Paris. While she had been traveling, the Nazis had  arrested Yura (son of Maria and her second husband) […]

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207. “What we have here is a failure to communicate”: The Fourth Ecumenical Council

The quote above is from a 1967 Paul Newman movie, “Cool Hand Luke”,  about a Florida prison chain gang. You younger people probably remember neither 1967 nor Paul Newman nor chain gangs. (Indeed a cool movie. Look it up.) I think the line is still fairly common, because it applies to so many situations. For example, […]

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