“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, […]
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 […]
40 Days of Blogging: Rules and Vocational Discernment
November 15, 2014 By
I have been the Director of Vocations for the UOC-USA for about a year and a half now. It has been a real blessing to help men and women understand, discern, and live their calling to serve God and His children. There are challenges, though. One of them is that in order to discern and […]
From Unchurched to Disciple: the dynamic of discipleship
October 19, 2014 By
The continuum of commitment and membership in the Church looks like this: The Unchurched. According to survey research, “none” is the fastest growing religion in America. We should not be surprised. People who have not truly given their lives to Christ and accepted His salvation have no reason to come to church when society no […]
From GGWB: Priests, you don’t have to like your parish either
March 29, 2014 By
In my post, “You Don’t Have to Like Your Priest”, I built on Brother Patrick’s essay to describe some of the reasons that people don’t like their Orthodox priests, making the general point that all of his foibles pale in comparison to the One Thing Needful which He serves and shares. Another dynamic of this […]
From GGWB: You Don’t have to Like Your Priest
March 19, 2014 By
A reader recommended Brother Patrick Mary Briscoe’s article “You Don’t have to Like Your priest” (published on March 7, 2014 at Dominicana) It is an excellent article and I recommend it, too. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. The following is patterned on Brother Patrick’s essay. Why do I like it? I know that my parishioners struggle […]
Homily – “What do you want?” vs. “Who are you?”
January 12, 2014 By
Homily for the Sunday after Christmas [“On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…”] It is common for us to lament the commercialization of Christmas, complaining that we have lost the “reason for the season.” I think this is true. Many of us are thankful that we are on the “Old […]
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 […]
Press Release
December 13, 2013 By
PRESS RELEASE: Fr. Anthony Perkins, Vocations Director of the UOC-USA, is the new webmaster of “Good Guys Wear Black”, the premier website on Orthodox Christian Vocations Fr. John Peck, the creator of the “Good Guys Wear Black“(GGWB) website, recently turned the management of the site over to Fr. Anthony Perkins. Fr. Anthony is excited […]
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 […]
