When we experience the “dark side” of the Church For those who have experienced what has been called the “dark side” of the Church, the struggle to remain faithful to the Orthodox Faith can seem daunting. The dark side is the result of the sinful, fallen nature of all of
Category: The Morning Offering
Is the Church truly less essential than a laundromat? Live streaming the services does not impart God’s grace in the same way the Mystical Supper imparts God’s grace. Christ’s Church is an essential institution far beyond a drug store or gas station, yet we continue to allow the government to
In our moments of loneliness and despondency, we are together As we struggle in this life, it is good to remember that we Christians are all together. We find our place of silence, where we encounter God, but even in this place set apart, we are together. In our journey
Do not cast away your confidence If we get caught up in what we want, or what we think we want, we can become despondent that things are not going the way we’d hoped. In our disappointment we start to wonder why God has failed to give us what we’ve
Those occasions when we mature into spiritual adulthood There are those times in our lives when God seems distant, even absent from us. These are usually times when our faith seems weak and we struggle to believe God really cares for us, or perhaps we begin to question whether God
We must build our endurance and confidence “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise (Hebrews 10:35-36)” When we find ourselves caught up in what we
The Feast Day of the Holy Brotherhood of the All-Merciful Saviour Today our brotherhood celebrates the Patronal Feast of our monastery. Thirty-four years ago the beloved and ever memorable Archimandrite Dimitri (Egoroff) of Santa Rosa, CA tonsured Father Paul and me as Orthodox monks, having embraced Orthodoxy after many years
Taking Orthodoxy beyond the self-congratulatory We must guard against noticing when another parishioner seems careless in the making of the sign of the cross, while we go about demonstrating for all around us, the proper way. Making sweeping signs of the cross that are done in such a way as
Children learn love of God by the example of their parents Every Orthodox parent wants their children to grow up attending Sunday Liturgies and staying active in the life of the Church throughout their lives. Yet many parents don’t demonstrate the importance of having a personal relationship with God in
Troublesome passages of the Old Testament It is important when reading the Old Testament, to remember that it was written as an account of a people’s journey to God. As the Israelites’ journey continued, they came to know God, little by little, through God’s self-revelation to their prophets, and their