115. An Introduction to Holy Week

Lazarus Saturday There had been fake Messiahs here and there before. The authorities had always been able to discredit them, and their followers had disappeared into the woodwork. But now here was this Jesus at Bethany only two miles from Jerusalem, still going strong – pulling off this ‘fake miracle”, this supposed raising of a […]

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114. The Seven Deadly Sins, Part Two: Sloth – Slothfulness about Leisure, Spiritual Sloth, How to Overcome Sloth

Last week we looked at Bodily, Intellectual and Moral Sloth. Now, moving ahead… 5 Slothfulness regarding Leisure. This sounds like a contradiction. It is not. Fifty five years ago one of my professors predicted that the big problem by the end of the twentieth century would be finding something for people to do with all their spare […]

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113. The Seven Deadly Sins #6 – Sloth, Part One: Bodily Sloth, Intellectual Sloth, Moral Sloth

Well…  …  I’ve intended to finish this Blog Post for the longest time. I really meant to, but I’ve been putting it off and putting it off and putting it off… till now… today… at last… finally… “I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; and […]

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112. The Icon, Part Two – Iconoclasm, the Seventh Council, and after that

In the year 767 Stephen of Constantinople saw soldiers trampling an icon. He objected and was told it was ok – it was only a picture. So he took a coin with the image of the Emperor and trampled it, explaining it was only a picture. We celebrate the feast of Saint Stephen the New Martyr every […]

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111. The Icon, Part One – Judaism, Early Church

Did you ever watch a classic iconographer paint (“write”} an icon? This requires many layers of egg tempura paint, each properly prayed over. The iconographer begins with a plain board, correctly shaped and prepared. (I’m omitting much of the process here.) Along the way a layer of clay earth tone is used, then later white […]

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