We will participate in the ongoing Heavenly Banquet One of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of the priesthood is comforting people in their darkest moments of sorrow. Do not be mistaken, and think that priests, monks and chaplains are exempt from the pain of those whom they try to
Category: The Morning Offering
Regarding Saturday and Sunday’s postings Friday morning I awoke in a state of extreme exhaustion, and with difficulty breathing. The medics from our fire department (I am their chaplain) decided to transport me to the Emergency Room of Swedish Cherry Hill Medical Center in Seattle. Examined by the ER doctor,
Holiness comes only to those who keep vigil Not an hour should pass without taking time to examine our heart, for the hour of judgement can come at any time, and we must be ready to give account to God for our life. In the Gospel of Matthew (5:8), we
Regarding the recent meeting between the Patriarch of Moscow and the Pope of Rome Recently the Melkite Greek-Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo in Syria, addressed a group of Western reporters concerning the dramatic situation facing Christians living in the Middle East. The archbishop said, “The European media have not ceased to
Holy Tradition supports the proper interpretation of the Holy Scriptures Many evangelical protestants see Holy Tradition as standing in direct contrast to Scripture, as though Tradition is always relegated to “the traditions of men”. However, there are numerous references in Holy Scripture to Holy Tradition. For example: “Many have undertaken to
Let us pass on the gift of love My father was a golf pro in Spokane, Washington, during my grade and early middle school years, and the country club was the center of our family’s social life. My brother, Dwayne, and I use to play an average of 18 to
What about people who are not Orthodox? It is always a pity when people who claim to be Orthodox make judgements against fellow Christians. In the tradition of Orthodoxy, wherever we find beauty and truth, it is of God, and it is our calling, as Orthodox Christians, to rejoice when
Man’s participation in the uncreated energies of God Our Orthodox patristic tradition holds that it is through God’s own uncreated energies that we are able to participate in His own being, light, and glory. We can not know God through our own faculties, for God is beyond human comprehension. The
We should think upon our own death Saint Sisoes, the great ascetic, standing before the tomb of Alexander the Great, beheld the skeletal remains of one who was once covered in magnificent garments. Astonished, the saint mourned for the vicissitudes of time and the transience of glory, and tearfully proclaimed,
The original men in black The monastic vocation is a special calling from God that is all about relationships. It is a relationship that involves community (the monastic brotherhood), but primarily revolves around the monk’s relationship with God. Monks are not holy men who are living lives set apart from