Focused not on Men, but on the Holiness of God The very first time I entered an Orthodox church, I felt drawn to Her. There was a tangible, inner tug, and an overwhelming sense of peace, holiness, and awe, emanating from the very walls of the temple. The serving clergy
Category: The Morning Offering
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives “Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are drawn into a whirlpool
Witnessing to the Love of Christ What is our responsibility, as Orthodox Christians, as regards those who do not live according to biblical morality? We must first remember that we have fallen short of the glory of God, and say, like Saint Paul, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy
We Must Struggle to Live According to the Gospels As Christians, we are always finding ourselves struggling against the passions, and trying, with Christ’s help, to live according to the gospels. Our Lord told us that we must love our neighbor, whom we’ve seen, if we are to love God,
The Restoration of the True Self The Lord Jesus Christ was humble, meek and good, and with the help of the Lord we too can be humble. Fasting and prayer are the means by which God can change our hearts, but we must approach both with humility and purpose. Saying
“Love thy God with all your heart, mind…” and secondly, “Love thy neighbor…” We live in a world bombarded with thousands of messages, some subtle and some not-so-subtle, of merchandising that impact the way we interact with others, and the way we relate to God. Much of what we glean
Your closest and most intimate friend is yourself If you have never learned to accept and love yourself, you will never be able to love another person. If you don’t learn to forgive yourself, you will never be able to forgive another person. You must learn to be your own
Christ asked those without sin to cast the first stone “We have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23).” We Orthodox often miss the mark in understanding and ministering to this world. We fail to heed the words of Christ, “to love one another as
Putting the blame in the right place We all have a natural tendency to lay blame on others, when in truth we must blame only ourselves. When facing our own sins and shortcomings, it is always easy to put the blame on others, yet our faith tells us that spiritual
Acknowledging Warts and Wrinkles If we do not live in repentance and humility, we clergy betray Christ, Whom we claim to serve. We must be willing to put aside all intellectual and romanticized notions of the Church, acknowledge the many warts and wrinkles and institutional flaws that have accumulated over