Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia

Georgians are counting down to what may be the most troubled Easter in the 1,700 years since the country adopted Christianity.

As cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 continue to climb, churches are preparing for an influx on Easter Sunday, which falls on April 19 in the Eastern Orthodox world this year. Despite a state of emergency that is supposed to keep everyone at home, the powerful Georgian Church refuses to cancel services and the government refuses to extend otherwise stringent measures to the Church.

Believers are caught between church and state, faith and science. Read More

During the COVID-19 pandemic, homeless people are more at risk than ever of having nothing to eat.

Send your gift to editors@orthodoxyindialogue.com via PayPal and put “Alms” in your message.

100% of funds collected is distributed regularly to the homeless on the streets of downtown Toronto.

Since the beginning of Great Lent we have collected and disbursed about $1800 from our readers for this purpose.

Philippians 4:4-9 ~ John 12:1-18

In the Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul sets the theme for Palm Sunday: “Rejoice in the Lord always! . . . The Lord is near.”

This weekend is a time of rejoicing, whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. The forty days of Great Lent are past; the days of the Lord’s Passion are yet to come. And the most joyful feast of all, our Pascha, the holy and glorious Resurrection of the Lord from the dead, is still a week away. Read More

During the COVID-19 pandemic, homeless people are more at risk than ever of having nothing to eat.

Send your gift to editors@orthodoxyindialogue.com via PayPal and put “Alms” in your message.

100% of funds collected is distributed regularly to the homeless on the streets of downtown Toronto.

Since the beginning of Great Lent we have collected and disbursed about $1700 for this purpose.

I said to my soul, be still: and wait without hope
              For hope would be hope for the wrong thing.
                            T.S. Eliot, “East Coker”

If we follow the Gospel narratives closely during Holy Week, we will notice that the events recounted begin, more or less, to recommence in real time. On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus stops in Bethany. He then proceeds into Jerusalem to the triumphal cries of the children, “Hosanna!” that is, “Save us!” He proceeds to the Mount of Olives to give a discourse on the end of days, and comes down to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. From there, things fall apart: He is betrayed, He is tried, He is flogged, and He is crucified. A week that began in radiant joy and triumph terminates in grief and trauma. Read More

We have seen several reports predicting, and now tragically confirming, an inevitable rise in domestic violence when victims—almost always children, teens, and women—are forced into confinement 24/7 with their abusers.

What I have not seen acknowledged in the public forum is the predicament of LGBTQ children and teens stuck at home with parents who—while perhaps not “abusive” in any conventional sense of the word, and while providing all the necessities of bodily life—fail to cultivate a home environment where their queer child can thrive emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. For too many of these young people, “home” looks and feels nothing like “sweet home.” 

This failure can take a number of forms.

Perhaps the parents have created an atmosphere where the child simply feels that they cannot come out. Read More