A Reason of the Hope that is in YouIf we are attentive to all the Lord does for us, we will endure those times when our prayers seem to go unanswered. That God is not always giving us just what we think we need, in no way means he does
Procrastination is Dangerous in the Spiritual Life Putting off for tomorrow what can be done today is something we all do on occasion. We indulge ourselves with laziness, coming up with excuses as to why we don’t need to do things now. We’ll do the dishes later. The lawn mowing
Visiting my friend, Abbess Anastasia of Holy Theophany Monastery When We do the Wrong Thing Habitually That we must struggle with our passions is a given. All the holy fathers council us to do battle with the passions, yet we continue committing the same sins over and over. Sometimes it
The recently restored Saint John the Wonderworker Chapel On Being Responsible Stewards of That Which God has Given Us I once knew a man who would destroy anything he no longer wanted, rather than give it to another person, or turn it over to a charity. Thinking he might regret parting
Thinking Before We Speak Many a parish has been torn apart by careless speech. Many an extended family has seen rifts between family members because of one careless word. Couples have divorced because one spouse would not refrain from a critical word. Our struggle with the passions must begin with
Do not Turn Right or Left According to Saint Basil the Great, “The person who does not allow his thought to incline towards excess or deprivation but directs it to the midpoint, that of virtue, is upright in his heart”. Virtue must be practiced. Just as one who would desire
click on photos to enlarge Our Enemy is not of Flesh and Blood The Church Militant, which is the Church of Christ here on this earth, is in the midst of a battle. Our enemy is not one of flesh and blood, but one of darkness and evil. The survival
Committed to Living as the Presence of Christ According to Ephraim the Syrian, the great sixth century saint, “The Church is not the assembly of saints, it is the mass of sinners who repent, who, sinners though they are, have turned towards God and are oriented towards Him.” As a
Be careful how you use the Internet Yesterday I received an email from a young man who asked why I was stooping to raising money for the monastery by allowing ads to appear with my blog, The Morning Offering. I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but
A Defeatist Attitude is a Prescription for Defeat As Christians we must believe that our ultimate welfare is in the hands of God and recognized that our life, although filled with many difficulties and struggles, is a journey of anticipation to the Eternal Life that is to come. Because this