Mary’s Christmas Offering
Posted: December 26, 2016 Filed under: The Eucharist and Living the Eucharist | Tags: Christ is born to be consumed in the Eucharist, Christ's teaching on the Eucharist in John chapter six, John 6: 48 -51 and the Eucharist, Mary offers her Son by laying him in a manger, Mary's offering of Christ in Bethlehem, Mary's one priestly action Leave a comment
In the Orthodox Church Christmas is also known the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Rightly, we focus on our Lord’s birth. Rightly, we celebrate the birth of God in human flesh. The other person of note is Christ’s mother, Mary. In the Church’s theology she is called Theotokos, meaning Bearer of God. She gave birth to God because God took flesh from her.
St. Luke gives us the birth narrative:
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled…And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem…And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she bore her firstborn son, and she clothed him and laid him to bed in a feeding trough (Luke 2: 1, 3, 4, 6 – 7).
Sunday of the Forefathers of Christ
Posted: December 16, 2016 Filed under: The Eucharist and Living the Eucharist | Tags: Banquet of the Kingdom of God, Invation to the Banquet of the Kingdom of God, living as priests of God, Luke 14: 16 - 24, spiritual excuses, Sunday of the Forefathers Leave a comment
When Christmas is about two weeks away the Church commemorates the ancestors of Christ. On this Sunday Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and many other men and women are remembered and honored. All were flawed, but all proved, in the end, to be faithful. One by one their lives of faith in the flesh led to the birth of Christ who took flesh from their daughter, Mary. Here in their numbers we find a family. This lineage begins with Abraham and Sarah, expands into multitudes, and then is compressed to one young virgin from whom the One prophesied about takes flesh. From him we have another expansion into the multitudes of all who have faith in Jesus Christ. In our numbers we, too, are incorporated by adoption into this family of faith.
Father Irenaeus Williams 
Sacrifice, Priesthood, and Solidarity
Posted: December 22, 2016 | Author: Fr. Irenaeus | Filed under: The Eucharist and Living the Eucharist | Tags: Acting in solidarity with all as God's priests, Commentary on Luke 22:19 - 20, Eucharist is a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, Jesus as High Priest, Jesus' actions in the Last Supper as found in Luke 22: 19 -20, Priesthood of all believers, Words of Institution in Luke 22: 19 - 20 | Leave a commentThe phrase in the above text of interest is “once for all” coming from the Greek word ephapax. This word has brought about a good deal of argument from Protestants. Let me make it clear: it is not the Eastern Orthodox position, nor Roman Catholic position, that the bloodless sacrifice of the Divine Liturgy (or the Latin Mass) is a re-offering of Christ. In other words Christ is NOT sacrificed again, as far too many ill-informed Protestants teach about our understanding of this sacrament. No, the sacrifice of Christ was done once, and done for all! It is very clear in the Orthodox Church’s prayers found in the anaphora and elsewhere in the Eucharistic prayers, that the offering of the Eucharist is a thanksgiving offering, reasonable, and bloodless. The prayers of the Eucharist make this very clear — Christ’s once for all sacrifice is RE-presented to us by the Eucharist!
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