The Sin of the Tongue

 This Lectio Divina comes from today's homily from the Prologue of Ohrid.

On the Festering of Sin

 

Today's writing comes from the Homily from the Prologue of Ohrid. I promise that there will soon be more posts than just occasional updates and Lectio Divina.

On Forgiveness

 

I apologize for the lack of updates this week. I thought that since the weather was going to stabilize that I might actually have a chance to not have migraines. How wrong I was. Any way, this post comes from this morning's lectio divina from the Prologue from Ohrid. I honestly cannot recommend this work enough to Orthodox Christians - or really any Christians. It is a wonderful work that has daily lives of the saints, reflections, contemplations, and a short homily. If your prayer rule includes a daily reading from things other than scripture, you should definitely get a copy of the Prologue. Any way, on with the post.

On Repentance

 

I have written about confession before, and the need for repentance. But this goes just a bit further than receiving the sacrament of absolution.

On Useful Anger

 

On Timeliness

I realized that I made a mistake with my dating yesterday and posted the reading from the Prologue from March 20th instead of the 21st. Indeed, it seems that with my migraine I was unable to keep up with what date it was. So I apologize to any of my readers who were confused by me posting yesterday - the 21st of March - a reading for the 20th of March. I was getting caught back up on my readings this yesterday and this morning, which is why this post is just a tad later than I typically like to post. Anyway, we are back to the Rule of St. Benedict for this one. Chapter 43:1-12

On God's Punishment

I have been unwell the last few days. Struck by a migraine yet again. It seems that anytime there is variable weather - as one gets when the seasons are changing - that my migraines flair up. This reminds me of when I was a teenager and one summer before it would rain I would get a nosebleed; the severity of the nosebleed would depend on how severe the rainstorm would be. Growing up in the Bible Belt, I had a few people suggest that possibly God was punishing me for some sin that I had committed. Thankfully, the nosebleeds only lasted that summer (though I do still get them from time to time, but not every time it rains).

On Rejecting Pride

This morning's reading comes not from the official Lectionary, but from a reading plan from the Bible app. The reading plan is "Daily Journey through Lent with the Early Church" and was made by the Coptic Orthodox Church. I've been pleasantly surprised in the use of quotes from Eastern Orthodox saints from after our schism with the Copts. On that note, the Coptic Church has also made an app called Catena which has the Greek Lectionary as well as the Coptic Lectionary, it has quotes from the saints and commentaries from various Church Fathers (you can choose from a certain set to include or exclude some), and lately they've added Bible plans (or you can make your own). I think the Catena app is an excellent Orthodox alternative than the more Protestant based Bible app. Anyway, on to the post.

On Caring for the Sick

I have been sick enough times in my life that I understand that it is no fun. In fact, I can not stand those people who think that others who have legitimate chronic illnesses are just faking being sick to get attention or to enjoy a day or two off. As someone who has been sick a lot I can tell you that there is no enjoyment in that day off. But as someone who is constantly sick, I feel like I have not done nearly enough for those who get sick in my own community.

On Following God's Will

The first week of Lent is coming to a close (tomorrow, but I don't typically post on the weekends), and I hope it has been a blessed week for y'all as much as it has been for me. Every morning I have been waking up with stiffness and pain, but that reminds me that I am still alive and not quite done with whatever God's plan for my life is. Do I always follow God's will? No, probably not even remotely close, but I do continue to pick myself up and keep trying.

On Chastisement and Perseverance

We are about halfway through Clean Week, the first week of Lent. I'm not really missing many of the foods I typically eat, but again, it is only the first week. Honestly, the food aspect of Lent has always been the hardest part for me - one can only endure lentil soup and rice and beans for so long. But there is always a sense of accomplishment after Lent is over - a sense that I endured, yet again, the Great Fast.

On Trusting God

I thought that I was recovering nicely from the accident, and yet this morning I woke up a bit stiffer than I have been. Yesterday, I took no medication to help with the pain, but I did this morning. I found myself wondering why this accident happened, is there a reason that this happened? I was promised the use of my sister's van this summer to go back to Ladyminster, will I be able to still go? A lot of questions have been running through my mind, and then I did my Lectio Divina this morning and realized that I should just trust God no matter what.

Prayer and Fasting

I took some time off to recover from a car accident. Aside from some slight stiffness, I seem to be doing better. Despite that, I decided that I should get back to blogging. So, here follows a Lectio Divina.

On Wealth and Happiness

A quick update before we get into this short post. After succumbing to a migraine that lasted a few days, my brother and I came down sick. It was not fun. I am, however, feeling better - even if the thermometer says that I'm still running a low-grade fever.

My being sick unfortunately means that I don't update my blog as much as I would like to. I am feeling better, so back to the updates.

On Despair

I am trying to get right back into posting, though I did have a few delays this morning, such as my computer needing to be restarted. Apparently my laptop does not like being left alone, suspended for a week or so.

Like so many of my other Lectio Divina posts, this one comes from the Prologue from Ohrid. And it covers a topic that I struggle with quite a lot.

On Charity

I hope that everyone had a good, and profitable weekend. This post is on a topic that I struggle with all of the time. I'm almost hesitant to post this because it gets a little personal for me, but that is kind of the point of Lectio Divina. This post is not about charity in the modern sense, but about love.

On Suppressing Our Wills

Moving right in to the Lectio Divina for the day with no sly comments or witty remarks, just straight into the post.

On Guarding Our Thoughts

I managed to get to sleep on time last night, which lead to me getting up on time this morning. I had no pressing concerns, so unless there is some failure of my computer, this post should make it out on time. I'm still writing a few articles that aren't based off my Lectio Divina, but quality posts take a bit of time to flesh out - not that I could ever be accused of writing any quality posts. Anyway...

The Contradictions of God

 This morning's Lectio Divina comes from today's Gospel reading, St. Matthew 22:35-46. Not every day can be just the Prologue from Ohrid. I also have a few articles that aren't Lectio Divina in the works currently, I just have to get my thoughts onto digital paper.

Who is Christ?

I apologize, yet again for the tardiness of this post, assuming it will be tardy - we'll see how quickly I can type without typos. Life often gets in the way of the things that we want to, or need to do. This morning, my brother was running late getting ready for work, so he asked me to make him lunch. And then my browser crashed when I went to preview the post. So, anyway, here is my musings from today's Lectio Divina.