Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church

Orthodox Christianity in Columbus, GA

Joyful Abandon

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The Apostle John relates [Jn 19:30] that on the Cross, Jesus bowed his head and said it is finished.” St John Chrysostom points out that there is a small easily overlooked detail of great significance here. Jesus bows his head before he dies. Normally, one dies first and then the head bows without volition.  St John notes that Jesus offers his life … [Read more...]

God’s Doorknocker

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A whisper was heard in heaven, “We need a doorknocker!” What could this mean? It was a mystery hidden from all eternity, unknown even to the Angels, but Isaiah, the youngest of all the Seraphim, began to wonder… The Gospel and Divine Liturgy are presented faithfully in a fresh and imaginative way through the eyes of an angel and the love of a … [Read more...]

Elevation of the Holy Cross

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The Gospel reading the Holy Fathers have chosen for the Sunday before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which we will celebrate with the Divine Liturgy on Wednesday, is part of the dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus, a member of the ruling body of the Sanhedrin whom we are told comes to Jesus “by night” as an ally and tells him, “We … [Read more...]

What Must I Do to Feel Alive?

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In the search to feel alive and at peace with life and one another, contemporary post-modern digital culture has given rise to some strange contradictions. People are lonelier while having more and more digital “friends” on Facebook. At odds with and dissociated from our physical bodies, there is an increasing preoccupation with constructing a … [Read more...]

Can Someone Show Me the Light?

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Ninety to nothing can happen when you are cruising 35 mph above the speed limit and suddenly notice flashing blue lights in your rear-view mirror gaining on you even faster. Or it can happen when, like Stephanie Clegg, you purchase a Marc Chagall painting from Southeby’s auction for $90K in 1994 only to be told it is worthless in 2022. In 2008, … [Read more...]

You Don’t See Me

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After 38 years of invisibility in a well-travelled area of Jerusalem where people passed daily, Jesus noticed one particular man among the many “invalid, blind, lame and paralyzed” huddled in the five porticoes around the Sheep Gate. The action throughout the Gospel of John unfolds in the context of six Jewish feasts in Jerusalem, beginning with … [Read more...]

Send That Annoying Foreigner Away!

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Early in his ministry, Jesus sent the Apostles out two-by-two with instructions to “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” They were instructed to preach repentance saying “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast … [Read more...]

The Value of a Single Leaf and the Oneness of All

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Approaching the Theophany of the Lord, we are again before the intersection of time and eternity. In the Apolytikion for Epiphany we sing “At your baptism in the Jordan O Lord, the Worship of the Trinity was made manifest…” There is a story from II Kings, chapter 6 in which the prophet Elisha invites some people to go to the Jordan river and build … [Read more...]

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