Author Archives: edithmhumphrey

During Lent, we are reminded day by day and week by week of the importance of endurance—of being in this race for the long haul.  In the prayer of St. Ephraim, we ask for God to give us the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love.  These four characteristics, it seems, were both lacking andContinue reading “Lighting up the Apocalypse 5: One for All, and All for One”

Rev. 1:17b-20; Genesis 1-3;Dan 10:7-12a; Isaiah 22:22; Psalm 31:14-17a/LXX 30:15-18a “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, and those that are, and those thatContinue reading “Lighting Up the Apocalypse 4: Our Times are in His Hands”

Rev. 1:9-17; Ex 20; Daniel 7:9-14; 10:16, 19, Ezek 43:2. John, in the first eight verses of the Apocalype, has introduced us thoroughly to the Author and Subject of his vision—the LORD God, as seen in Jesus the Christ, from Whom all beginnings come, and to Whom all of creation hastens, as our goal. NowContinue reading “Lighting Up the Apocalypse 3: Our Brother Communicant Shows Us the LORD”

Rev 1:4-8; Isaiah 11; Daniel 7:13-27; Zechariah 12-13 This week we tackle Rev 1:4-8, in which John makes his first address to those reading the account of his vision. Here is the passage: John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was andContinue reading “Lighting Up the Apocalypse 2”

Rev 1:1-3, Daniel 2-4, Exodus 23-4. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, evenContinue reading “Lighting up the Apocalypse 1”

Hebrews 13:17-21, Judges 1-5, Psalm 1, St. John Chrysostom’s Sermon 34 on Hebrews This Sunday we read the conclusion of that rich letter to the Hebrews, the authorship of which was debated even by some fathers.  Whether the letter is indeed by St. Paul, or by another master of theology, rhetoric, and pastorship from thoseContinue reading “The Complete Community”

Colossians 3:4-11, Psalm 94/5 Advent, or the Fast of the Nativity, is a time of waiting:  preparing for when we will joyfully celebrate, yet again, Christ’s nativity (His first Advent!) and waiting with patience for when He will come again in glory at his second promised Advent.  Consider this stirring and demanding passage from ColossiansContinue reading “Awaiting His Advent Actively”

Ephesians 4:1-6, Genesis 37-50, Psalm 132/3 You know what happens when you do not keep a schedule?  Frequently you end up with a harder task than you would have had if you hadn’t shirked a responsibility.  That is my plight this week – I did not work on my blog and podcast according to schedule,Continue reading “Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Covid-19 Land”

Hebrews 2:2-10; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 6:2-24; Galatians 6:11-18 For some reason, this is a week in which I have been thinking about angels: what an odd thing to be doing during election week! But in my teaching, I am preparing to lecture on and to discuss C. S. Lewis’s cosmic trilogy.  In these books, theContinue reading “Angels, Elections, and the Marks of the Lord: the Synaxis of the Archangels”

Gal 1:11-19; passages from Jeremiah; 1 Cor 15 On FaceBook this morning, an argumentative friend in a Dialogue group responded to a wise saying of a Church father by reminding us that all prayer in the New Testament is directed towards God, not the saints.  Her fear concerning mediation, of course, is shared by manyContinue reading “From, In, and For God: the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost”