We live in a fantasy world. A world in which there is no need for us to change. But we are not well, we are simply deluded. May the Lord God protect us from the Pharisee in our minds that wants to tell us lies about ourselves and our neighbors and give us the humility ? […]
The (mis)use of religion in the Ukrainian conflict
December 9, 2017 By
Here are the notes from the talk I gave at the Foreign Policy Research Institute on 07 November 2017 at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They asked me to talk about the effect of religion on the conflict in Ukraine for their 21st Annual Templeton Lecture on Religion and World Affairs. It is a […]
Learn History so as not to repeat the worst parts – a review of Red Famine
November 18, 2017 By
This is the 100th commemoration of the October Revolution in Russia. You may remember an old TV game show “Name that Tune”. The premise was that only a handful of notes can bring to mind entire melodies. Contestants would bid on how few notes it would take for them to “name that tune”. We know that […]
From the Archives: The Holodomor, Lazarus, and the Rich Man
November 5, 2017 By
[This homily was originally given on 9 November 2015.] 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 […]
Homily – On the Anniversary of Great Evil
November 5, 2017 By
http://traffic.libsyn.com/orthoanalytika/20171105-TelltheTruth.mp3 Communism brought great evil to the world, but it did not create it out of scratch; it pulled it from our own hearts. How should we respond to the evil in the world? To the evil in our own hearts? Note: It was the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor, not the 75th (Fr. Anthony […]
Homily on Romans 15:1-2: On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand!
August 7, 2016 By
We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. (Romans 15:1-2) This is one of the most wonderful pieces of advice in the Bible, but it goes against our culture and some of […]
Homily Notes: Like Politics, Salvation is Local
June 26, 2016 By
Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38, 19:27-30 Like Politics, Salvation is Loval The Problem: How do we reconcile the Gospel that we have just heard – a very demanding call that we give up everything and take up our cross – with something Jesus says just in the very next chapter; “Come to me, all who labor and […]
St. Thomas Sunday Homily; A Meditation on Love (and doubt)
May 8, 2016 By
Gospel Reading: St. John 20:19-31 Love is Always Personal There is no such thing as love in the abstract; it is not a phenomenon that can be measured in a laboratory, isolated from everything else. It is always personal. You all know what sacrifice looks like. You have done it in your lives and you […]
Specialization as a threat to spiritual growth
February 8, 2016 By
One of the problems I have seen in Orthodoxy is [excessive] clericalism, the idea that religious experts are responsible for our spiritual needs. We are all members of the royal priesthood! Bishops and priests provide necessary sacramental services, grace, and guidance [etc.] … but we are all responsible for the state of our souls and the health […]
A Meditation on MLK Jr and Our Own Cowardice
January 17, 2016 By
The Lord God stands in the midst of the Divine Council and judges among the gods.”How long will you rule unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?Defend the poor and fatherless, maintain the rights of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 81/82:1-4) One […]
