Reflections

Personal reflections, meditations, and ongoing series tied to the liturgical calendar

  • Second Sunday after Pentecost: Not Peace but a Sword

    ByJobin

    The Second Sunday after Pentecost reflection is now on the blog.
    Today’s Qurbano readings sit together in a way that is both challenging and deeply honest.

    The early church in Acts 4 responds to real opposition by praying not for safety but for boldness, grounding themselves in Psalm 2 and the sovereign purposes of God.

    Paul in Ephesians 2 gives us the foundation of that boldness: Christ himself is our peace, the one who broke down every dividing wall in his own body.

    And Jesus in Matthew 10 tells us plainly that following him will sometimes cost something, that the sword of genuine discipleship may divide us from those closest to us.

    The reflection is written to be accessible from age 13 upward, so please do share it with the young people in your families.

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    Dwelling in the Spirit – Week 1 | The Gift of Holy Boldness

    ByJobin

    Ten days after the Resurrection, the disciples were still behind a locked door.
    Then the Spirit came – and Peter, the man who wept at a servant girl’s question, stood in the streets of Jerusalem and spoke to thousands.

    Chrysostom’s observation is precise: what changed was not Peter’s character. What changed was the source from which he operated. The Spirit who had accompanied the disciples now dwelt within them.

    Parrhesia – holy boldness – is not a personality trait. It is what happens when the Fire takes up residence.

    Week 1 of Dwelling in the Spirit is now on the blog.

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    First Sunday After Pentecost: Now That the Fire Has Fallen

    ByJobin

    The First Sunday after Pentecost reflection is now on the blog.

    The central question is simple: a week after the feast, what has actually changed? The three readings of today’s Qurbano answer it together.

    The Bereans in Acts 17 show us daily Scripture reading done with genuine honesty and curiosity.

    Paul in 2 Corinthians tells us that we are new creations and ambassadors of the kingdom, in every ordinary moment of the week.

    And Jesus in Luke 7 closes with a beautiful and challenging line: wisdom is proved right by all her children. Not by those who debated the invitation. By those who lived it.

    The reflection is written such that young teens from age 13 upward can easily comprehend, so please do share it with the young people in your families.

  • Dwelling in the Spirit: The Spirit Has Come to Stay

    ByJobin

    Five days ago the Church kept Pentecost.

    Monday came, and the ordinary week returned. The question Pentecost always quietly leaves behind waited in the ash: what has changed?

    The Fathers answer: everything – because the Spirit has not merely visited. He has come to stay.

    New Friday series begins today on Seeking Theosis.

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    The Feast of Pentecost: The Fire Has Fallen

    ByJobin

    *Feast of Pentecost – The Fire Has Fallen*

    Blessed Feast of Pentecost, dear brothers and sisters.

    The nine days of waiting are over. The fire has fallen.

    The feast day reflection is now on the blog, drawing on the prayers and readings of our own Pentecosti service alongside the Syriac patristic tradition.

    It sits with the three-service structure of the feast, the theology of the sprinkling of blessed water, the tripartite gift of the Trinity poured out on the gathered community, and the connection between Pentecost and the theology of theosis that gives the Seeking Theosis blog its name.

    One line from the liturgy has stayed with me through the morning: _the opening prayer that asks to be made worthy to receive the spiritual drink of the new wine of the Comforter Spirit._

    The new wine is being poured on the morning of Pentecosti Sunday. May our vessels be open to receive it.

    Come, Holy Spirit. Ta Ruha d-Qudsha. Come.

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    Day 9 – The Vigil Before the Fire

    ByJobin

    We have arrived at the last night.

    Nine days ago, the disciples stood on the Mount of Olives and watched the cloud receive Him. They were redirected earthward, back to Jerusalem, back to one another, back to the Upper Room and the long, patient work of waiting for what had been promised.

    Tonight is the vigil. The last night of watching before the morning that will change everything.

    The parable of the ten virgins has been on my mind today. All ten had lamps. All ten intended to be there when the Bridegroom arrived. But five of them had not brought enough oil for a night that turned out to be longer than they expected. And while they were gone to buy more, the door was shut.

    The disciples in the Upper Room, by the ninth night of their waiting, had brought enough oil.

    Nine days of sustained prayer, one accord in supplication, the patient rebuilding of the Twelve, the reading of the Scriptures, the holding together of a community through every quality of waiting – dry and luminous, difficult and peaceful – had filled the lamps.

    They did not know that the Bridegroom was coming in the morning. But they had kept their lamps burning through the night.

    And when the morning came, they were found with oil.

    Stay awake tonight. The fire is very close now.

    Day 9 of 9. The vigil before the fire. Full reflection on the blog.

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    Day 8 – Tongues of Fire Were Prophesied

    ByJobin

    Days of Waiting – Day 8
    Today’s reflection sits with three prophetic texts that the Upper Room community would have been reading in those days of waiting: Joel’s promise of the Spirit poured out on all flesh, Isaiah’s vision of the Spirit resting on the shoot of Jesse, and Ezekiel’s extraordinary vision of the valley of dry bones.
    The image from Ezekiel has stayed with me most. The bones come together, bone to its bone. Sinew and flesh cover them. The structure is assembled. But there is no breath in them yet.
    The disciples in the Upper Room were, in a real sense, that valley. The community was gathered. The Twelve had been restored. The prayer had been sustained for eight days. But the breath had not yet come.
    One more day.
    The Syriac tradition holds that Scripture and Spirit are never separated. When we open these prophetic texts today, the same Spirit who inspired them is present in the reading. Joel’s promise, Isaiah’s vision, Ezekiel’s breath, these are not ancient words about a distant past. They are present words, addressed to us, now, one day before the fire falls.

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    Day 7 – Mary in the Upper Room

    ByJobin

    Day 7 of the Ascension to Pentecost series is live.
    Today we are sitting with Mary in the Upper Room. Acts 1:14 names her explicitly and separately, and Jacob of Serugh helps us understand why.
    At the Annunciation, the Spirit came to her alone. In the Upper Room, she prays that He might come to all.
    She is not a bystander at Pentecost. She is its intercessory heart.
    Two days until Pentecost. The fire is very close now.

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    Day 6 – I Will Not Leave You Orphans

    ByJobin

    Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you.
    Day 6 of the series is now on the blog, and today we are sitting with the promise that Jesus made in John 14 before the Cross: I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.
    The disciples in the Upper Room were living inside this promise on Day 6 of their waiting. They had no timeline. They had no picture of what was coming. They had only the word.
    One thing I have been sitting with today is the Syriac understanding of the Holy Spirit. In our liturgical language, the Spirit is Ruha d-Qudsha, and the feminine grammar of that word gave our Fathers a theology of the Spirit as brooding, maternal, generative. The same Spirit who hovered over the primordial deep at creation, who overshadowed Mary at the Annunciation, is the one the disciples were waiting for in the Upper Room.
    And the reflection connects this directly to the Epiclesis of our Qurbana. Every time the priest implores the Spirit to descend upon the gifts, we are standing in the Upper Room, holding out the promise of John 14 and asking for its fulfilment. The tradition is clear: that prayer is always answered. The Spirit always comes.
    We are three days from Pentecost in this series. The fire is closer than it was.

  • Day 5 – The Restoration of the Twelve

    ByJobin

    Dear brothers and sisters, Day 5 of the series is now on the blog.
    Today’s reflection is on the election of Matthias, and one thought has stayed with me since writing it.
    Matthias is chosen to complete the Twelve. And then he disappears from the New Testament entirely. No recorded sermon, no miracle, no letter. He took the place that was given to him, served faithfully, and left no historical trace that we can find.
    The kingdom of God is not built only by the famous. It is built, day by day, by people whose names appear once and are not heard again, who showed up when they were needed and were content to be known only to God.
    Most of us are Matthias. And that is not a small thing.