30 April 2016. WHY EASTER? (The Short Version)

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“Christ is risen from the dead, trampling on death by death!”

‘Nuff said. All else is mere commentary on that… it’s why it’s the Feast of Feasts. It’s coming (in more ways than one)…

BMD

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30 April 2016. The Easter Feast Has Begun… It’s Easter in Oz!

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Especial good wishes to Alex and Olesya and their family… good on all of you! Do keep the jug at hand…

BMD

24 April 2016. Holy Week is Upon Us… Take of It What You Can, When You Can

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The holiest season of the Christian Year is upon us… Christ comes to Jerusalem to perform the Seder, be betrayed, suffer a real death, and to rise from the tomb, trampling down death by death. You don’t have to be at every service… our services are monastic in nature, so, they’re not well-suited at times to laypeople with real cares, obligations, and limitations in the real world. This is a time of year when jumped-up konvertsy try to lecture the rest of us on how to be Orthodox (quite often using inappropriate “Evangelical” verbiage in so doing). I advise most of you not to engage them, please. I always fall down at once or twice a year in that… their overblown treatises with rather shallow roots do rankle me mightily (especially, when I’m tired or vexed).

You’re under no obligation to go to all the services. You’re NOT a monastic. Even in monastic communities, there are always those with obediences that often keep them from services. Go to what services you can and get from them what you will. Stand in God’s Presence… it’s enough, trust me on that. Remember, the services are only the flower of the Faith… belief is the root and Christian practise is the stem. The services are only an ornament… without interior content, they are worse than nothing.

Reflect on what Christ did for you and for all of us… then, love and do what you will, as the Apostle bade us…

BMD

19 April 2016. This Sunday is Orthodox Palm Sunday…

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This Sunday is Orthodox Palm Sunday… that means that Holy Week and Easter are upon us, the most solemn and joyous time of the Christian Year. Every year, one hears the same bleat from the over-pious “religious”… “We only see these people once a year… the Church shouldn’t give them communion”. Nothing is further from the truth and nothing is more demonic and un-Christlike. Such people are keeping up some sort of tie with the Church… you may not like it, but they’re keeping up some sort of tie with the Church. I don’t think that we should be subjecting people to an inquisition… they’re coming of their own free will and they’re showing by this participation that they haven’t totally given up on Christ and His Church. I say, “Let them be. They’re not heathens. They’re not atheists. They’re just not living up to your fancies. STFU”. God smiles when such people come to the services, and so do I. If you don’t like that, so be it… I refuse to argue with the “pure and perfect”… they’re always right and you’re always wrong, so, why waste your time.

I say, “Happy Easter and a Joyous Holiday to all of us”. ALL OF US. Christ didn’t just rise from the dead for a limited coterie and set, after all.

BMD