Organic Orthodoxy

“For everything in the Orthodox Church points toward a way of life; the Church is connected to all aspects of life.”

+ FR. ALEXANDER SCHMEMANN

Orthodoxy is an ocean without shores. Such magnanimity cannot be confined within the four walls of a church building. Reducing orthodoxy to a few performative rituals is the greatest distortion one could possibly make of it. Orthodoxy is not a religious ideology but the most organic lifestyle initiated, practiced and traditioned to us by Jesus Christ for the integral healing of human beings and the wider creation. There is not a single aspect of human life and ecosystem which Orthodoxy does not encompass. A genuine inculcation of this lifestyle would lead us to the cross of Christ where we would discover our true life which is “hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).

Organic Orthodoxy envisions to theologically engage with the social evils of the world that strive to upend the divine order and impede the realization of the reign of God on earth.


LATEST POSTS

Repent And Retrieve The Cross

Last month the Church commemorated the Feast of the Discovery of the Cross. What is so festive about this episode? If at all, it should elicit indignance at the domestication of the Cross of Christ by the Empire.  The Cross, the most ignominious imperial instrument of execution, which Christ grabbed from the hands of the…

St. Simeon The Stylite: The Fragrance Of God

St. Simeon the Stylite (from Greek στῦλος stylos meaning pillar or column) was one of the most formidable ascetics that Christianity ever witnessed. The extreme eccentricities of his ascesis though daunting were never revulsive but awe-inspiring even to his disparagers who drew nigh to ponder his vocation more closely. St. Simeon was born in 386…

Prophet Elijah: The Pioneer Of Prophets

As a prophet chauffeured by the Spirit of God (1 Kings 18:12; John 3:8), Elijah appears out of the blue in 1 Kings 17 – without any formal warning or introduction whatsoever – to reproof King Ahab, the most idolatrous King whom Israel had to endure. The wisdom of God is indeed marvellous for He…

Mutinous Motherhood

The oldest document narrating the martyrdom of St. Kuriakose and St. Yulithi is the 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘢 𝘈𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘢 which presents the three year old St. Kuriakose as a militantly loquacious evangelizer and his mother St. Yulithi as an avid disciple.  St. Kuriakose took birth in 302/305 C.E. in Iconium, Turkey as the sole child of St. Yulithi,…

Potential Of The Despised: A Homily On St. Matthew 14:14-23

On hearing the execution of St. John the Baptist, Christ withdraws into a deserted place for He knows that He is next. This is not a timorous fleeing rather a strategic avoidance of His persecutors. Fleeing and withdrawing are two distinct approaches. Mind you, bravery is not stupidity. Moreover, we need not invariably embrace all…

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Theological Treats

Jesus Christ, the Son of God was also a man of brevity. His speeches, instructions and sermons were all crisp. Drawing inspiration from our Lord Himself, Dayroyo Fr. Basil and Suryani_Malankara have composed a compendious work entitled 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒔 which succinctly presents vital theological reflections. It is intended to be a 𝘊𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 – something to meditate as we sip our morning coffee. Cheers! ☕


Advent Awakenings

We live in a culture that propels us to excite every nerve and cell of our bodies all the time. Instant gratification is often sought. Wait makes us fidgety. Yet Advent addresses this very impatience of ours. It helps us to inculcate the habit of Christ the Son of God who was never inordinately inquisitorial or nosy. He patiently dealt with everything that came across His way. Advent Awakenings is a Reflection series I undertook during the Advent period to reassert the significance of patience and waiting. As the Scripture testifies; “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord ! ” (Ps 27:14).


Battle The Beast

Battle the Beast is a series of Lenten musings undertaken during The Great Lent.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dayroyo Fr. Basil of the Syriac Orthodox Church holds a B.Div from United Theological College, Bangalore and an M.A. from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, New York. He also holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Nagpur University and has served in the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), Nagpur. After having served at Dayro d’Mor Avgin, Arth, Switzerland, he now serves at Dayro d’Mor Ignatios, Manjinikkara, Kerala, India.

4 Comments

  1. Good initiative! Best wishes!!

    I hope and pray that along with the social evils, Organic Orthodoxy will continue to address the evils and hypocrisy within the Christian Churches including our Church, which are part of the society/world.

    Liked by 1 person

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