most "blue zones," concentrated areas of supercentenarians, can be attributed to pension fraud or bad record-keeping #

research and short essays about cultural loss and the critical importance of preservation and access #

Ada Ada Ada is documenting her transition on Instagram, uploading shirtless photos weekly to test their nudity guidelines #

anything out of frame is immediately forgotten, making it very dream-like and surreal to explore #

In the original usage, the Trisagion was sung as a refrain to Psalm 80. The cantor would chant verses of the psalm as all walked in procession and the people sung the Trisagion hymn as its refrain after every verse.

Recently I listened to a podcast in which Larry Chapp (a universalist Roman Catholic) interviewed Dr. David Bentley Hart. In the course of the interview Dr. Hart asserted that, unlike Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy does not have an official and authoritative Magisterium. By this he meant that Orthodoxy possesses no institutional organ (such as the papacy and the episcopate dependent upon it) that can routinely and authoritatively declare what is or is not the official teaching of the Church when consulted.

Some heresies never seem to die, but have a disconcerting tendency to pop up in every generation, rather like the emerging heads of the whack-a-mole in the children’s game one sees in Chuck E. Cheese: whack them down as hard and often as you like, but they will pop up again someplace else.

The work of the prophet Haggai is short and easy to miss; it is a mere two chapters in our Bibles sandwiched in between the books of Zephaniah and Zechariah. If you are flipping quickly through the final pages of the Old Testament he easy to miss. After ploughing through longer works such as those of Isaiah (66 chapters), Jeremiah (52 chapters, plus 5 more chapters of Lamentations), and Ezekiel (48 chapters), Haggai looks positively puny in comparison

Fr. Apostolos explains that the Gospel message is the meaning of Christmas.

Fr. Apostolos encourages us that it is possible to change. May we approach the Feast of the Transfiguration "with a sense of humility and anticipation that we too might be radically changed into that same image from glory to glory."

Fr. Apostolos shares about agape from St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

Fr. Apostolos invites the faithful to complete the journey from the gates of Jerusalem and Christ's triumphal entry to Golgotha and the borrowed tomb that could not hold the Lord of Life.

Fr. Apostolos Hill unpacks the story of Hosea and Gomer, contrasting the covenant between God and Israel and Gomer's infidelity in her pursuit of an "open marriage." Jesus' words in the Gospel reading today about the exclusive nature of our union with Him in the New Covenant ("whoever loves father, mother, son, daughter more than Me...") indicates that our fidelity to Him cannot be divided.

Fr. Apostolos Hill preaches about All Saints' Day and what it means to be not of this world, or, Aghios. He reminds us of the distinction of being in this world but not of this world and the importance of striving to be Aghios each day.

Fr. Apostolos Hill took the opportunity of his and Presvytera Denise's 38th wedding anniversary to offer a homily about marriage in the Orthodox view.

Fr. Apostolos Hill preaches on what to do when we come upon disagreeable passages in Holy Scripture, such as Abraham's statement to the Rich Man that he has already received his "good things" in his life and can expect nothing more.

Scott Hanselman and his wife will be joining the walk for diabetes on May 6 2006. They've set a goal of raising $10,000 for this event and could use your help in reaching that goal. I encourage all of you to go to Scott's blog to find out more about this worthy cause, or go directly to diabetes.org to make... (64 words)

Sunday before the Nativity of Christ

Holy Myrrhbearers - Third Sunday of Pascha

The readings presented by the Church on this day remind us of the most fundamental teachings about what we believe and who we are called to be as Christians. As we celebrate the Falling Asleep of the Mother of God, Fr Tom tells us that the Virgin Mary is the one who embodies hearing and keeping those most basic teachings. (Dormition of the Mother of God, Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost)

Lent is a time of great anticipation as we move toward the celebration of Christ's holy Pascha. But Fr Thomas reminds us that it is also a preparation for our entire Christian life, where we face the challenges of increased prayer, fasting and almsgiving and in turn, learn much about our true selves. (Forgiveness Sunday)

Orthodox Christians around the world will embark upon the most important time of the year, Holy Week, leading to the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. Fr Thomas reminds us that Holy Week is our opportunity to experience the value of Christ above all things in our life. (Palm Sunday)

In a special Christmas edition of Sermons at St Nicholas, Fr Thomas reminds us of the cosmic significance of the birth of Christ. Because God the Father sends His Son to us, the world will never be the same!

Today it's fashionable in some circles to sanction any "lifestyle" under the rubric of humanity being "created in the image of God." Fr Thomas teaches us what bearing the image of God implies for every human person, and why the gospel is at the heart of it.

On the third Sunday of Pascha, we hear of the courageous acts of both Joseph and Nicodemus, and the Myrrhbearing women. Fr Thomas reminds us that being a Christian in today's world takes courage. God does not force us to make the right choices and do the right things, but He does expect it of us—and for this we need courage.

One day after the horrendous killings of 11 Jewish worshippers in a Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Fr Thomas gives a sobering reflection from the reading of the Sunday: the exorcism of the Gadarene demoniac.

As soon as our Lord is born in Bethlehem, the Scriptures record that the evil one is working through Herod to destroy him. Fr Thomas reminds us that the darkness will always fight against the Light, but we can choose our path wisely.

We all receive an invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb, but how will we respond? Will we be found ready in our wedding garments? Fr. Tom calls us to look to the precious and life-giving cross to prepare ourselves as a bride waiting for the consummation of all things in Christ.

Listen as Fr. Tom discusses how active participation in the life of the Church now gives us a foretaste of the inheritance that awaits us in eternity.

Fr. Tom discusses St. Paul's exhortation to have nothing to do with idols. Idols bring a communion of death, while the Divine Image of God destroys death and brings life.

If we want to know what our humanity is like and can truly become we need to look at that perfect Undistorted Image which is Christ. Looking at him we shall not descend into destructive narcissism but rather ascend, utterly transformed and beautified by the Holy Spirit, to the Father.

Fr.Gregory reminds us that the West was also Orthodox once and that it can be again.

Fr. Gregory Hallam gives the sermon on the feast day of St. George.

The glory of Jesus Christ is known in all its fullness in the resurrection of his complete person; body, mind and spirit. The Transfiguration is a disclosure of both a deified humanity and a glorified Cosmos in advance of the resurrection itself.

Fr. Gregory gives extracts from St Gregory of Nyssa's orations on the feast of the Nativity of Christ. He intersperses these reflections from contemporary life as the context in which both the promises and the challenges of the gospel are to be worked out by each one of us.

Fr. Emmanuel Kahn says St. Paul sets before us a model—that we should be as “beloved children”—that is children who are deeply loved by their parents and others, because God first loves us before we learn to love Him.

In this, the time of salvation, God does not hold our sins against us—if we come to him for forgiveness and cooperate with Him in turning our life around.

The Annunciation is one of the most important announcements in human history. And the announcement—the message—is not only to Holy Mary that she is the Theotokos, but a message to each of us that our lives, like the life of Holy Mary, can be suddenly and unexpectedly changed because of the intervention of Christ guiding us to His purposes.

The Holy Myrrh-bearing women came to the tomb of Jesus Christ to anoint His body with myrrh. Fr. Emmanuel reflects on that in today's sermon.

St Jerome, a fourth century monk who translated the entire Bible into Latin has written: “Those who love Christ follow Him. They are bonded with Him [that is, united with Him] in the ties of love.”

Fr. Gregory Hallam sermon on July 8, 2018.