Know who you really are We are all surrounded by fictional characters, persons who are the invention of filmmakers, promoters, and even self-inventors. The original meaning of the word “hypocrite” was “actor”, and it is ignorance of our true nature as children of God that keeps us living as fictional
The Tradition of the Paschal Egg There is a beautiful tradition within the life of the Church for believers to have as their last meal before beginning the Great Lenten Fast, to eat a hard boiled egg, white in color. This egg represents our sinful nature, and we eat this
Sharing the Truth in a world devoid of hope If you wish to share the truth of the Orthodox Faith, and Christ Who is her head, you must give witness to the love of Christ by loving everyone. Without Christ, Orthodoxy is just another religion, devoid of the power to
Glory to God for all things! My cardioversion took place on Thursday morning at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Tacoma. After two attempts, where they stopped my heart and used electric shock in an attempt to restart the heart in the correct rhythm, the cardiologist was unable to reverse my
Praying for God’s will in our lives When we consider the words of the Our Father, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”, we must remember, as Christians, that our prayers must always be focused on the knowledge that, ultimately, we must desire that God’s will
Entering into the Silence All Orthodox Christians are aware of the importance of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, in our journey to God. These three practices are at the heart of the Great Lenten Fast. Prayer is our way of communicating with God on a daily basis, and fasting days (Wednesday
The importance of intercessory prayer in the life of a Christian When we first become aware that someone we know is suffering, we must begin to pray for them. We must pray with much sincerity, and with tears, knowing that our brother is being tormented, and is filled with despondency.
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
I’ll do it tomorrow We all have times when we procrastinate. There is a story of a young monk who confessed to his elder that he was always struggling with procrastination. His elder told him it was his lack of faith which made it impossible for him to see God
Christ’s resurrection destroys the permanency of death The fact that we Orthodox do not accept the doctrine of original sin as espoused in the West, does in no way suggest that we do not need to be born again (born anew). We believe, as did the Early Church Fathers, that