Keeping Saint Paul’s challenge to pray always Although most of us can’t pray constantly, we can turn our entire day into one continuous prayerful offering by asking the Lord to accept all our good works, and our acts of charity, as prayer. We can even take a few moments throughout
Beholding our King on Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the feast of the Church where we believers greet our Lord our king: the Word of God made flesh. He is greeted not simply as the One who came to us once riding on a donkey, but as the One who
Becoming a home grown philanthropist As any history buff knows, these times we are living in can sometimes seem like reruns. News reports are filled with stories of wars, disasters, dictators, attacks on the innocent, increased crime, and the ever present persecution of Christians in various parts of the world.
Recognizing our shared humanity with the homeless Some forty years ago, I was walking with an elderly bishop of the Russian Church, on a street in San Francisco. I had spotted a filthy homeless man walking towards us. This man’s hair was disheveled, filthy with years of dirt, and was
Complaining weakens our resolve If we are always complaining about how unfairly we are treated, we will have failed in our imitation of Christ, Who was abused by His enemies unto death. We should strive to reign with Our Lord by loving our enemies and never complain. Christ looked towards
An Update from the Old Monk I should be filled with rage against a brute who could perpetrate such an unwarranted attack against me, especially since I’d smiled at him, just prior to the sucker punch. In my mind I assumed he was approaching me with a request for money,
PRAYERS REQUESTED Abbot Tryphon of the All-Merciful Saviour Monastery was attacked while pumping gas at a Burien, WA gas station Tuesday around noon. A random man came over, and sucker punched Abbot Tryphon in the face, knocking him to the ground. They had to wait for paramedics, and a sheriff
Which type of Christian are you? There are two types of Christians. There are those who can say with the Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ: it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20)”. And then there are those Christians who
The Lenten Journey and the banishment of hell One of my favorite authors as a young man, was Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk. In the introduction to his work New Seeds of Contemplation he wrote: “Hell was where no one has anything in common with anyone else except the
A religion for the sick Our Orthodox Church has always seen herself as a hospital for the soul, the place where her children can seek healing. It is within her walls that we find the medicine we need to make us holy (whole), and where we can find the means