I love it when our hierarchs write homilies for us! – Fr Anthony + BARTHOLOMEW, By God’s Mercy Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical PatriarchTo the Plenitude of the Church: Grace, mercy, and peace from the Savior Christ, born in Bethlehem Beloved brothers and sisters, children in the Lord,“For to us a child is born, […]
Guest writer: “Come When Called” by Nicholas Perkins
January 1, 2014 By
Skeletons danced in silver mist, and Kira wondered whether he was dreaming. He pinched his arm and gasped. Nope; definitely still awake. There really were dancing skeletons, and the cavern floor really was covered in a swirling layer of silver mist. His breath was hot and stifled behind his mask, and his robes were starting to stick to his […]
Waiting Tables, Nepsis, and Diaconia
December 27, 2013 By
A few days ago, I wrote about how much we are like the toy monkey with the cymbals: our buttons get pushed and we start to clang. It’s as if everything were pre-programmed. Psychologists have found that this isn’t far from the case. My favorite political psychologist Jonathan Haight puts it this way when summarizing […]
Day Thirty-nine – Comfort
December 23, 2013 By
The most iconic image of the comfort is found in Psalm 22/23: “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” Those words bring to mind all the warm fuzzies of a mother’s hug and all the calm of a father’s protection. Psalm 22/23 is like the greatest spell; reading, singing, or chanting it provides immediate […]
Teaching the Divine Liturgy – Meditations
December 22, 2013 By
Here are my notes from the teaching Divine Liturgy served on 22 December 2013 Prologue: Please meet the love of my life…I was nervous the entire week leading up this “Teaching Liturgy.” It was hard to figure out why. After all, I’ve been here for more than six years. That’s hundreds of homilies. I […]
Day Thirty-four – Log Cabins
December 18, 2013 By
Have you ever heard of “thin places”? The idea is that there are places where the barrier between our world and another are so thin as to allow us to sense its presense. Mythology is full of stories about “normal people’ finding adventure (and often doom!) by slipping into places like fairyland and the […]
Day Thirty-three – Nog, Glog & Grog
December 17, 2013 By
Nog, Glog, and Grog are awesome words. They sound like the names Tolkien would haven given to a trio of orcs or each of the heads of a three-headed giant. Speaking of which, have you heard of an ettin? What’s neat about this kind of giant is that each of its heads has a […]
An Introduction to Vocations I: Every soldier is a rifleman…
December 13, 2013 By
An Introduction to Vocations, Part One; Every soldier is a rifleman; every clergyman is a Christian I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who […]
Day Twenty-nine – Saint Herman of Alaska
December 12, 2013 By
God is glorified in His saints! Along with a prayer book, one of the immediate blessings becoming an Orthodox catechumen brought me was bringing the saints into my life, mainly in the form of a used copy of The Prologue from Ochrid. I love that book. The new version is even better than the last; not […]
Day Twenty-six – Oil Lamps
December 10, 2013 By
Tending the Flame of Anor I’m pretty granola when it comes to certain things. This is especially the case when it comes to church. Being crunchy and being Orthodox go together like cream in coffee. Because the Glory of God resonates throughout creation, objective science gives use plenty of reason to prefer the old ways; […]
