21 September 2016 St. Mary (Покрова) Cathedral Opening prayer (from the Prayer before the Gospel during the Diving Liturgy) Make the pure light of Your divine knowledge shine in our hearts, Loving Master, and open the eyes of our minds that we may understand the message of Your Gospel. Instill also in us reverence for […]
Homily: A Reflection on Romans 12:10-14
July 31, 2016 By
[A homily on the power of “doing unto others…”; “if you can’t say something nice…” and “bless your heart.”] Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; […]
Some thoughts on miracles…
April 27, 2016 By
[written for the 2016 Great Lent Giveaway] On Miracles in the Holy Bible and Now Miracles in the Old Testament Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of heaven, over the cattle, and over all […]
J.R.R. Tolkein on Mythopoeia
December 28, 2015 By
From http://home.ccil.org/~cowan/mythopoeia.html To one [C.S. Lewis] who said that myths were lies and therefore worthless, even though ‘breathed through silver’. Philomythus to Misomythus You look at trees and label them just so,(for trees are ‘trees’, and growing is ‘to grow’);you walk the earth and tread with solemn paceone of the many minor globes of Space:a star’s […]
Homily Notes: The Widow of Nain (Tears, Childolatry, and the Resurrection)
October 25, 2015 By
Homily Notes: St. Luke 7: 11-16 (The Raising of the Nain Widow’s Son) Warm-up. The Holy Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils and the revelation of the Harmony of God. The ContextScriptural Context: Because the Lord, while not even present, had healed the centurion’s servant, H now performs another even more remarkable miracle. He does this […]
Humanitarianism and Orthodoxy – a theological reflection
June 14, 2015 By
The Problem: the world (and humanity) groans in agony It’s a hard world. It chews people up, divides them, deprives them, hurts them, and does its best to take away their hope. It does its best to demean and dehumanize them. We have all seen this and we are here because we want to do […]
The Triumph of True-Worship and Defeat of Iconoclasm (and why it matters)
March 1, 2015 By
The Triumph of True-Worship and Defeat of Iconoclasm (and why it matters)A Homily on the First Sunday of Lent: the Triumph of Orthodoxy Note about length of services. This is traditionally a time of catechetical instruction, so sermons may be longer than usual. Your priest will do what he can to ensure that this is not […]
What is a “Peacemaker”? A Reflection
March 1, 2015 By
Then Jesus Christ said; “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” (St. Matthew 5:9) We sing this every Sunday as part of the Beatitudes (sung during the Little Entrance, when the clergy process to the Holy Doors with the Gospel), but what does it mean? Let’s start with the […]
Wolves in the Guise of Prophets: The Problem of Orthodox Fundamentalism
February 4, 2015 By
There is no doubt that fundamentalism is a problem, and Professor Demacopoulos provides a good introduction to it in its Orthodox form. I dare say that the negative reactions to this article will come from two sources: one is the real fundamentalist who doubles down on his pharisaical pride and the second is the conservative […]
Evangelizing Men without Chests – can it be done?
January 23, 2015 By
Professor Anthony Esolen has a real gift for juxtaposing the depravities and weaknesses of modern culture with the strength of traditional Christianity. While his critiques are strong, one of the things I appreciate about him is that he is criticizing western civilization from the inside. As such, I think of him as a sort of Roman Catholic […]
