Deacon – Faith Unto Ages

The Kingdom is at Hand: Finding Hope in Christ through the Holy Eucharist

In the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.

The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. This line from St. John the Baptist has been weighing heavily on my heart lately. I’m writing this on March 11th, 2026. The world right now is consumed by division, not just in the United States but in the entirety of the world. This division began in the garden. It has been rampant. I never understood until the veil was recently lifted for me. Satan’s grip on the world is much tighter than I anticipated. Our church has been fighting heresy for so long, but the true heresy that we have lost sight of is within our hearts.

My journey only had one goal, and that was to understand God with my brain. I thought that if I understood God in my head, it would lead me to Him. But Saint Cyril of Alexandria recently spoke to me through his writings and humbled me. As I was preparing my notes and breakdown of the Gospel of John, I was humbled.

“For it is not the part of a mind that loves truth to indulge in restless curiosity and to busy itself about words beyond what is fitting, but rather to receive with simplicity the things that are spoken by God.”
— St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Book I

He warns that those who seek answers instead of truth will not only fail to find the answers but will not receive the truth, which is Christ Jesus.

It troubles me, all this death surrounding us, from the passing of the leader of Iran to a recent preacher, Mhir Mhir Zelalem. I thought I understood death. I thought it was something that just comes and goes. Luckily, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ broke down the door of eternal emptiness. But now something was not right.

Continue reading

“There is one God, the Father of the living Word, who is His subsistent Wisdom and Power and Eternal Image: perfect Begetter of the perfect Begotten, Father of the only-begotten Son. There is one Lord, Only of the Only, God of God, Image and Likeness of Deity, Efficient Word, Wisdom comprehensive of the constitution of all things, and Power formative of the whole creation, true Son of true Father, Invisible of Invisible, and Incorruptible of Incorruptible, and Immortal of Immortal and Eternal of Eternal. And there is One Holy Spirit, having His subsistence from God, and being made manifest by the Son, to wit to men: Image of the Son, Perfect Image of the Perfect; Life, the Cause of the living; Holy Fount; Sanctity, the Supplier, or Leader, of Sanctification; in whom is manifested God the Father, who is above all and in all, and God the Son, who is through all. There is a perfect Trinity, in glory and eternity and sovereignty, neither divided nor estranged. Wherefore there is nothing either created or in servitude in the Trinity; nor anything superinduced, as if at some former period it was non-existent, and at some later period it was introduced. And thus neither was the Son ever wanting to the Father, nor the Spirit to the Son; but without variation and without change, the same Trinity abides ever.” - A Declaration of Faith, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus

“Having therefore received a charge, and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in the word of God with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they (the apostles) went forth with the glad tidings that the kingdom of God should come. So preaching everywhere in country and town, they appointed their first-fruits, when they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons unto them that should believe. And this they did in no new fashion; for indeed it had been written concerning bishops and deacons from very ancient times; for thus said the scripture in a certain place, I will appoint their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faith.”
- St. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96).

“A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him, ‘Abba, give me a word, that I may be saved.’ So the old man said, ‘Go to the cemetery and abuse [insult] the dead.’ The brother went there, abused [insulted] them and threw stones at them; then he returned and told the old man about it. The latter said to him, ‘Didn’t they say anything to you?’ He replied, ‘No.’ The old man said, ‘Go back tomorrow and praise them.’ So the brother went away and praised them, calling them ‘Apostles, saints and righteous men.’ He returned to the old man and said to him, ‘I have complimented them.’ And the old man said to him, ‘Did they not answer you?’ The brother said no. The old man said to him, ‘You know how you insulted them and they did not reply, and how you praised them and they did not speak; so you too if you wish to be saved must do the same and become a dead man. Like the dead, take no account of either the scorn of men or their praises, and you can be saved.’”