We must submit to God’s All-Consuming Love If we cultivate true self-knowledge, and thus see our own weaknesses clearly, we will advance so that soul is established with the mind in the heart. We must remember, as we struggle to open the heart, that God is powerless before our human freedom.
Category: The Morning Offering
Will the Church thrive into the twenty-first century? For Orthodoxy to thrive into the next century, we must see a return to the very roots of our faith, where the Church proclaims the Good News of Christ in all its purity, and centers herself in the mystical and sacramental core
Holy Tradition is the Memory of the Church The fact that protestants, by and large, have traveled far from the faith and traditions of the Apostolic Church, is testament to what happens when one departs from the “memory” of the Church. This “memory” is kept alive through Holy Tradition, from
An ignored heart is a lost heart It is important that we direct all our thoughts, all our actions, and all our desires towards a burning love for God. Our heart must become inflamed with the love of God, and all our intellectual and emotional striving must be directed towards
A search that must lead toward Absolute Good As we search for a meaningful life, we should avoid the mirages in our world that lead to short term fulfillment. Our goal should be to avoid the illusory pleasurable life that leads to despair and melancholy. A life centered on striving
A monastic as a police and fire chaplain It has been a great blessing for me to have been serving as a police and fire chaplain for the past eleven years. My interest in chaplaincy began when I was asked by a number of inmates to serve as their Orthodox
The enemy of faith is our pride The absolute necessary element for salvation is faith. Faith alone will save us, for only faith brings us into communion with God. Faith is a free gift, for nothing we can do can save us. No good works can save us. Being a
The Christian life requires work and effort Every priest can tell you that he’s had his share of people who don’t think he understands the difficulties they face with their jobs, families, and spouses. Many people think their priest expects too much of them, and they ignore the homilies that
The incubator for a life of righteousness Prior to electricity and central heating, most families gathered in parlors, spending evenings with reading, sewing, and family conversations. The notion that everyone would retreat to bedrooms, kitchens, or dens, separating themselves from other family members, was unthinkable. The communal nature of the
Waging war against the flesh Since the eyes and the ears are the doors of the soul, an Orthodox Christian must not leave the body without attention. Unlike the religion of Gnosticism, which teaches the separation of soul and body, with the physical world being evil and something to be