When charity becomes an occasion for self worship Food is a common problem for many people, for food so often fills a void, becoming a way of comforting oneself when faced with the stresses that are a part of our modern, everyday world. Being in service to others, such as
The enemy of faith is pride “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”” (John 6:29). The absolute necessary element for salvation is faith. Faith alone will save us, for only faith brings us into communion with God.
And our capacity to reject the will of God According to Saint Gregory Palamas, God has given us lordship over all the earth because of our capacity for sovereignty. With this sovereignty comes the responsibility to be good stewards of that which God has given us. Saint Gregory wrote, “There
The theological vision of God and natural science Orthodoxy does not exclude from the theological vision of God the findings of natural science. Science and faith can be in concert with one another and our desire to reinstate our communion with God can involve both natural science, and the science
How can I better support you? My main reason for writing each day is to lend support to so many of you who are struggling in today’s world. The hardships you face, both economically, socially and spiritually, are great. Keeping a balance can be difficult. I have therefore tried to
Refrain from the life of the super correct Driven by fear, there are people who leave the Church and head into schism. In Greece there are at least eighteen “Old Calendar” Orthodox churches who claim to be THE Church, not recognizing each other as canonical. In the United States there
Focus on the task at hand How often we allow our minds to search in all directions, wondering what we should be doing or where we should be going. It is better to focus in all humility on the task at hand and trust the Lord to bless our efforts.
Staying Orthodox in an anti-Christian environment As the summer months have come to a close many young people are heading off to college, some for the very first time. A scripture passage comes to my mind as I think of these wonderful young people preparing to leave home: “I am
Being good stewards of the environment As Orthodox monks we hold to the importance of respecting the environment, which requires us to be good stewards of what God has given us. An important part of that stewardship is working towards sustainability, based on a simple principle that everything we need
The Church’s authority is grounded in love and mercy If she be true to herself, the Church acts with an authority that is grounded in love. She holds within her realm the authority to make her people the children of God. She has the authority to forgive, and the capacity