As another Holy Week begins in the Orthodox Church, my eleventh as an Orthodox Christian, I am grateful and again stand in awe of the majesty and almost overwhelming character of this culmination of the Church year. There is a lifetime of learning and growing that the Church provides unlike I have ever seen or […]
Why Have We Fasted?
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ This week, Orthodox Christians are in the final week of Great Lent, a period set aside during the church year for repentance and preparation for the remembrance and celebration of Jesus Christ’s […]
Repentance and the Doctrine of Ray Ray
Pro athletes say stuff. A lot of stuff. And, like pop stars at awards shows, God gets thrown in there on a somewhat regular basis. Its something we’re used to by now. Look, I can’t judge, I was the small town evangelical kid who used to pour through “thank yous” in liner notes (I was […]
Ask, Don’t Take
“For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.Where do wars and […]
A Pastor of Pastors
(This reflection was originally published in the 2009-2010 edition of the Tikhonaire and reposted on the St. Tikhons Website – http://www.stots.edu) On an afternoon in mid-December, as my final fall semester at St. Tikhon’s concluded, and as questions and decisions about “what comes next” were weighing on my heart, I picked up the phone and […]
Our Founding Father: Saint Herman of Alaska
I recently heard a podcast of an interview with the newly elected Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America, Tikhon, in which he was asked what he thought the strengths of the American Orthodox Church were. He began by noting the legacy of Saints that have already been recognized in the relatively short (in Orthodox […]
Hiding from the Cross (Mark 8:30-34)
Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him […]
The Personal Process of Healing (Mark 8:22-26)
“Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw […]
“How Do You Not Understand?” (Mark 8:11-21)
Today’s Gospel ends with these words from Jesus to His disciples. In many ways, we can read the words almost in an exasperated tone: “I’ve shown you so many miracles, I’ve multiplied fishes and loaves not once, but TWICE, in your presence, in the recent past, and yet you are still worried about the fact […]
Cornerstone 2012 Reflection #1 – Being There
Several weeks ago I was blessed to be a part of a group that traveled to Cornerstone Music Festival in Bushnell, Illinois to spend a week in the heat (and it was hot – very, very hot) with concertgoers, artists, friends, and self-described pilgrims and seekers of all sort. For the second year in a […]
Saved Together 