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Lorica Menu The Orthodox West Blogs Lorica About Scroll down to content Posts Posted on April 18, 2019 April 18, 2019 Holy Saturday: A Mediating Boundary More often than not a boundary is a mark of division, this and not that. It is a barrier which keeps separate, a protection of what belongs here and not there, to me and not to you. A boundary is an enclosure, a perimeter defining a thing as it is itself and protected from ambiguity and admixture. In Christ the definition of boundary is revolutionized and becomes altogether something different. The thin space, the -non-place- of the boundary becomes not an isolating point but a mediating point. The boundary is not dissolved in the mediation, it remains because the two sides do not lose their distinction and yet they are united in the boundary. Continue reading Holy Saturday: A Mediating Boundary” Posted on April 8, 2019 April 13, 2019 Pocket Lint for Diamonds Lent IV 2019 My thoughts on the gospel today were prompted by a discussion at our parish council meeting yesterday concerning the recent Annual Parish meeting we had in February. We were discussing the goal to pay off the current loan so we could move forward with a new building program. We were reflecting on the annual parish meeting, during which we looked at the giving of the parish by way of pie charts and some general statistics. In light of this information, we stressed the importance of stewardship in tithes and offerings. There has been a strong positive response and I am hopeful that many of us took to heart the admonition to make joyful and sacrificial giving a central aspect of our Christian obedience. Continue reading Pocket Lint for Diamonds” Posted on April 6, 2019 April 7, 2019 Christ is Struck On Friday in the third week of Lent the first reading is taken from Numbers 20 where we read about the rebellion of the Israelites. They contended with Moses saying they wished they had died with their brethren because they had been brought out to the evil place of the desert only to die without water. Moses went before the Lord in the tabernacle and fell on his face with Aaron and the glory of the Lord appeared and the Lord instructed Moses to take his rod in hand and speak to the rock in the presence of the Israelites and it would yield its water. Continue reading Christ is Struck” Posted on April 2, 2019 April 2, 2019 Jesus goes up to Jerusalem The Gospels tell the story of Jesus, His birth and ministry, passion and resurrection. They all have their own unique way of telling the story with varying emphasis, but one thing stands out as common to all four Gospels and that is the dominant theme of the Passion Narrative. All four Gospels are structured to lead up to the grand climax of Jesus Passion. One author has even said that the Gospel genre is really just a passion narrative with an extended introduction. Continue reading Jesus goes up to Jerusalem” Posted on March 26, 2019 March 16, 2019 Our Most Deadly Foe We are in a contest- a race, a battle, an acquisition. There is a prize to be won, an enemy to overcome and a treasure to procure. In most races there is only one winner. The difference in our race is everyone gets to win, you don’t have to be the fastest or the strongest but you do have to finish. The one great opponent we face, the one thing that will keep us from winning the race, overcoming the enemy and purchasing the treasure is our own laziness and sloth. Continue reading Our Most Deadly Foe” Posted on March 23, 2019 March 16, 2019 Why No Meat March 23 Ember Saturday For thousands of years before the great deluge man ate no other food than from the fruit of the ground which was procured through toil and the sweat of his brow. But after the flood God shortened man’s life in mercy so he would have less time for sin in this corrupt body and he also permitted man to eat the flesh of animals to strengthen him in his weakened state. From that time until now fasting has essentially meant abstaining from flesh meat and the juice thereof. Below is commentary from Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeldon concerning possible reasons for why God permitted man to eat meat after the Flood. Continue reading Why No Meat” Posted on March 22, 2019 March 22, 2019 Lenten Blog: The Third Prophecy Third Prophecy: Genesis 6 Abraham, the Father of Believers, is here offered to our Catechumens as a model of Faith. They are taught how man should ever depend upon his God, and faithfully serve him. The obedience shown by Isaac to his father’s orders is a figure of that which our Saviour has shown on Calvary. The wood for the holocaust, carried up the mountain by Abraham’s son, brings to our minds the Son of God carrying his Cross. Dom Gueranger Posted on March 21, 2019 March 21, 2019 Lenten Blog: The Second Prophecy The Second Prophecy Genesis 5 The second Lesson gives us the history of the Deluge. God makes the Waters serve as the minister of his justice, those very Waters which were, afterwards, by Jesus, to become the instrument of his mercy; the Ark, which is a type of the Church, is the shelter for those who would be saved from the flood; the human race is preserved by one family, which represents the Disciples of Christ, who, at first, were few in number, but afterwards peopled the whole earth. Dom Gueranger Volume VI Posted on March 20, 2019 March 16, 2019 Why Forty? We fast forty days in Lent- 6 weeks excluding Sundays plus four days beginning with Ash Wednesday. What is the significance of the number 40? The number 40 is mentioned 146 times in the Scriptures. Here are a few notable ones. Continue reading Why Forty?” Posted on March 18, 2019 March 21, 2019 What Is a Collation? Our Western Rite Fasting rule states that on fast days we shall refrain from flesh meat and the juice thereof. We shall restrict our eating to one full meal and a collation , and that not before noon. 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