Blessed is the Kingdom

Seeking The Kingdom In All Things

55 Maxims

It makes me very happy to know that many of our St. Thomas parishioners, myself included, are about to embark upon a journey together meant to strengthen the roots of our Christian faith. Many times we get so caught up in attempting to learn more and more, and forget to review and strengthen the basics of our faith. We have been blessed to have been sent Deacon Dave Pecot who will be leading us through this process through the Alpha program.

One place where I have gained strength for simply living the fundamental, normal Christian life is in the 55 Maxims presented often by Fr. Thomas Hopko, the Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary. I was recently reminded of them by two bloggers whom I follow, Molly Sabourin and Fr. James Coles. My goal as part of my commitment to embracing the fundamentals in Deacon Dave’s Alpha Program is to also use these 55 Maxims as an aid to my Christian life.

I would like to also take some time over the next year or two to reflect here on these 55 Maxims. There is much wisdom in them for those who would aspire to follow them. It is my hope that we can explore them together and support each other in our efforts to live our Christian life as a community of believers.

The first maxim is: Be always with Christ.

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This entry was posted by on Monday, December 6th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Fr. Christian is the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City, TN.

Comments

  • http://yimcatholic.blogspot.com Frank Weathers

    ‘Tis the gift to be simple,
    ’tis the gift to be free,
    ’tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
    And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
    It will be in the valley of love and delight.

    I’m looking forward to following along with you on this path. The first maxim sure sounds like a winner. Be always with Christ.

  • http://avowofconversation.wordpress.com Macrina Walker

    Father Christian,

    I will be interested in reading of your experience with the Alpha course if you are inclined to write on it. I must confess that I have always been somewhat hesitant about it because of its evangelical Protestant roots although I know that the Catholic version has expanded that. But I’m interested especially in your experience of the process, as we have recently ordered The Way and I have been approached about helping to present it. The Way is related to Alpha in that, as I understand it, it builds on the social dynamics of the Alpha course, although the contents have been entirely written from scratch from an Orthodox perspective. So if you’re inclined to blog on your experience of this process, I’d be very interested!

  • Fr. Christian Mathis

    I do hope to do some writing about it Macrina. I hope that it will be a good way to deepen the roots of faith in those who will participate. I am looking forward for the opportunity of coming together in a larger group within the parish to celebrate and learn about Christ together.

  • Edgar Baird

    The 55 maxims are a beautifully direct yet simple way to orient one’s entire being toward Christ. Much like the Rule of St. Benedict, it has a way of bringing out that little bit of monasticism that resides in us all.

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