I love baking phosphora. I’ve worked at it and learned what I can from my betters, but I certainly can’t claim to be great at it… so it’s all the more humbling to realize how this offering is transformed into something so glorious (a prefect metaphor for the Christian life!). Here’s my current approach. It […]
Homily Notes: 27th Sunday after Pentecost
December 6, 2015 By
Epistle. Ephesians 6:10-17. Summary: There is evil battling against us. God gives us protection – put on the full armor of God!Gospel. St. Luke 12:16-21. Summary: Get outside your comfort zone and use your gifts to the glory of God. Three points: First Point: Know Your Enemy. This is a difficult world full of very […]
On Transitions – how to leave well
December 1, 2015 By
On 13 September 2015, I served my last Divine Liturgy at St. Michael’s in Woonsocket, RI. Although in many ways the situation was ideal (it was an amicable parting; I wasn’t driven out by them or by frustration with them), it was still very difficult. I wanted to do it well, for their benefit, for […]
Personal Tribute to St. Sophia Seminary
November 30, 2015 By
I wrote this for the “Tuesday of Giving” development effort at St. Sophia’s. V. Rev. Anthony Perkins, rector of St. Mary Protection of the Holy Theotokos Cathedral, Allentown PA.Vocations Director, Associate Academic Dean, & Adjunct Professor of Spirituality at St. Sophia’s My CallingWhen I was about fourteen, I was studying the Gospel of St. […]
The Good-Idea Fairy has Run Amok
November 28, 2015 By
Full disclosure: I am a retired CW-3 (Military Intelligence, USAR). I spent most of my time post-9/11 providing intelligence support to warfighters in Afghanistan. It was important work. However, colleagues and friends would be quick to point out that I got hit pretty hard by the good idea fairy myself, most notably in being part of a […]
Homily on Unity: How to Fix the World
November 22, 2015 By
Ephesians 4:1-6. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, […]
The Holodomor, Lazarus, and the Rich Man
November 9, 2015 By
Holodomor (dedication and blessing of the Holodomor Memorial in DC). Background info: the Holodomor (i.e. murder by starvation) was an intentional policy of the USSR under Stalin. In 1932-33, the Soviet regime killed upwards of ten million people (the number is disputed, but no one doubts that it was several million) through the forced acquisition of […]
Homily Notes: Tending the Garden of our Souls
November 1, 2015 By
November 1st; Tone 5, The 22nd Sunday after PentecostSt. Luke 8:5-15: The Gospel of the SowerGalatians 6:11-18: Boasting on nothing but the Cross “Have you rejected Satan and all his works and all his pomp and all his pride? Have you rejected Satan and all his works and all his pomp and all his pride? Have […]
20151008 – Youth, Orthodoxy, and Social Media (and PKs)
October 30, 2015 By
In this episode, I interview Joshua Oryon, Orthodox Christian, grown-up PK, and social media power user and content provider. We discuss the dangers of social media for our youth and how priests’ families can nurture faith in “the aquarium.” Check out this episode!
Notes from a Baptismal Homily – Baptism as Cosmic Spiritual Warfare
August 29, 2015 By
Welcome Guests. Congratulations. What is it that just happened? What is it that baptism accomplishes? There are many ways to look at it: In secular terms, the community of St. Michael’s welcomed a family into formal membership. This is, of course true, and while happy as we have been so happy them as worshipping and […]
