Our calling, like that of Peter and the first disciples, is simply to obey Christ’s command to follow Him. When we stumble in doing so, we must cultivate the humble recognition of Peter, who said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

The Lord used the story of the Good Samaritan to show us who we must become if we are truly uniting ourselves to Him in faith. The more we share in His life, the more we will overcome the spiritual blindness that so easily tempts us to justify ourselves in thinking that any person or group is somehow not worthy of our care and compassion.

Looking to the example of the great saints we commemorate today, as well as to the model of those holy fishermen, let us repudiate the superficial, self-centered tendencies celebrated by our culture and undertake the daily struggle of obedience to Christ. That means letting down our nets in obedience at every opportunity as we cry out for His merciful healing of our souls. That is the holy habit that we must all cultivate if we want to become worthy disciples of the Savior.

Today we read our epistle (1 Corinthians 16:13-24) and gospel (Matthew 21:33-42) in the light of Isaiah 5:1-7; 27:1-13 and 2 Peter 1: 3-12. We are led to see that there is a new song of hope that replaces the prophet’s lament over God’s people, because Jesus has become the cornerstone of God’s Temple.

We move on from the seven messages of the exalted Jesus, to see, through John’s eyes, the wonder of heavenly worship. Revelation 4 is in harmony with Old Testament Visions such as Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1, and Daniel 7, but suggests in its astonishing detail that God’s presence among us had been deeply enhanced through the actions of the Living One, Who was, and is, and is to come. The significance of thanksgiving as an essential characteristic of our service and worship is modeled for us by the hosts of heaven, both human and angelic.

very sad to hear this but I'm grateful for their effort, and loved having them at XOXO to talk about their weird and special community #

he has an extraordinary memory, reliving the stories behind a beautifully simple song #

Recently I heard a very dark and serious song about the judgment of God and His wrath against sinners. It was the folk song “Great God Almighty’s Gonna Cut You Down” (accessed here). I was not aware of the song before; apparently it is an American folk song. The oracular Wikipedia informs me that it was first recorded by the Golden Gate Quartet in 1946 and issued in 1947 by the Jubalairies, and since then has been covered by a variety of singers in country, folk, electronic, and black metal genres, including such singers as Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, and Elvis Presley. It takes some imagination to contemplate someone singing both about blue suede shoes and the wrath of God, but that’s America for you.

As we work our way through the Nativity Fast, Fr. Tom cautions us not to get bogged down in earthly matters, but to embrace our healing in the incarnate Christ.

Fr. Tom reminds us that the spiritual life is full of ups and downs, but the downs are a provision from God for our salvation.

Fr. Gregory preaches on the story of Zacchaeus and his determination to see Jesus.

Fr. Christopher delivers the homily on Great and Holy Pascha.

Fr. Gregory asks how we can protect ourselves and the poor, who are our brothers and sisters, from those tendencies within ourselves toward greed and the denial of both death and judgement?

Fr. Gregory talks about humility as a lesson in the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.

Father Irenei examines two passages from St. Irenaeus of Lyons, which speak of receiving the truth of "the Church that has been handed down to us" from the Holy Apostles, and in which right belief is found without adulteration or error.

On this special edition of Ancient Faith Presents, Fr. Evan Armatas, priest at St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Loveland, Colorado, and the host of Orthodoxy Live on Ancient Faith Radio, speaks at Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Holy Apostles holds an annual dinner in the Cheyenne community to raise funds and awareness about Orthodoxy. Each year they invite a keynote speaker to address their guests and speak about the Faith. This year the host committee asked Fr. Evan. The event occurred outside of Cheyenne at the historic Shellback Ranch on July 19, 2016.

At the foot of the mount of transfiguration, we find out what we’re made of.

The Lord invites us to come to and be healed, forgiven and made perfect as on the first Sabbath.

...and Thy Holy Resurrection We Glorify! Hebrews 4: 14 16, 5: 1 6, Mark 8:34 - 9:1

Jannik Sinner is looking to cap a superb year with a first ATP Finals triumph. Here's everything you need to know about the event - and pick your tip for the title.

Former Wales and British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton tells of his chance to join French Top 14 side Toulon in 2013.

Katie Mullan steps away from her captaincy duties with Ireland after an eight-year stint but will continue to play for her country.

Lloyd Martin could not be torn away from music he passed on the route, says his mum Ceri.

One of the UK's largest Sikh temples has reinvented itself as an emergency food operation.

From an excited pub manager's overloaded booking site, to a downbeat barber on universal credit in Brixton.

St Pauls residents say the garden helps them to "slow down" during the pandemic.

Many young people returned to live with their parents during the pandemic. How's it going, a year on?

Cassie talks about her decision to use weight loss injections to improve her health.

Applicant says there is high demand for site but councillors argue it is unsuitable in green belt.

Councillors water down and approve plans to expand operating times of a bus lane in the Devon city.

Kenny Jackett stands down from his role as Gillingham's director of football for medical reasons.

Developers wanted to build 20 homes on land next to a Site of Biological Importance in Harwood, Bolton.

Headliners Green Day, Sleep Token and Korn will be joined on the bill by Weezer and McFly.

Police say a trailer was among the stolen items seized by officers during the operation.

Wycombe Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield says he has not heard anything from Coventry City about their vacant manager's job.

When this whole horrible COVID19 experience started—back when we thought maybe we’d be in lockdown for a few weeks, not a few months to a year—I thought to myself that at least it might be something worthy of documenting with my camera. I considered the world so changed and strange in this moment in time […]

Fewer than 3% of reported bike thefts since 2019 resulted in a charge or summons, the BBC learns.

Well, the Oscars happened last night, and for the first time in 21 years I didn’t bother to watch. Pretty ironic given how many of these movies I ended up seeing and loving, but that’s neither here nor there. I did watch the video of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper musically fucking on stage while […]

The post A Mediocre Rundown of the 2019 Oscars appeared first on HecklerSpray.

Listen to this week's podcast (February 6, 2012) psd.js psd.js is the beginnings of a Photoshop PSD parser in JavaScript! Right now it only essentially extracts metadata information - such as image size and layer information - but it's off to a good start! You can even drag and drop ...

Dan Fallows is stepping down as Aston Martin's technical director, two-and-a-half years after taking over the role.

Special counsel Jack Smith looking at stepping down before Trump takes office and is discussing how to end prosecutions  CNN

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