What are you thankful for? In amongst the football, turkey, and shopping, Americans do try spend at least part of their Thanksgiving being grateful. I have a lot to be thankful for; wonderful marriage, loving wife, respectful children, beautiful family, good parish, plus the whole triangle from security on up on Maslow’s hierarchy. But […]
Day Twelve – Vestments
November 26, 2013 By
One of the things that Christians – and all humans! – are called to do is bless every moment with holiness; to “redeem the time” (1 Ephesians 5:16). One of the ways we do this is through continually prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Orthodox Christians are most familiar with this verse as it applies to the “prayer […]
Day Eleven – Turkey
November 25, 2013 By
There’s a funny thing that happens every year among the Orthodox in America around this time of year. Many Old Calendarists hop on their high horse and lord it over New Calendarists for breaking the Nativity Fast on Thanksgiving. The built-in assumption is that there is no way any Tradition-loving, Real Orthodox Christian (TM) would […]
Homily – The Good Samaritan as a Lesson of Love
November 24, 2013 By
Homily – The Good SamaritanSt. Luke 10:25-37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. The lawyer wanted to test Jesus, thinking that Jesus would condemn Himself by dismissing the Jewish Law. […]
Day Nine – The Sabbath
November 23, 2013 By
We were made to work One of the great virtues of this nation is its commitment to work hard and to work well. This virtue does not allow us to see work in purely economic terms; it isn’t just about paying the bills, providing for the family, or having enough to give freely to those […]
20131123 Vocations are for everyone!
November 23, 2013 By
What is God calling you to do? This show opens with a talk on vocations geared for everyone – vocations are not just for men in black! I follow this with a short story by Rdr. Nicholas Perkins, and finish by asnwering some mail on paleo, fasting, and the Bread of Life. Enjoy the show! […]
Day Eight – Canned Food
November 22, 2013 By
I have been married for 20+ years and have four children. One of the roles that I take seriously is as the provider and protector of my family. In simple times, this can be done by exercising the virtue of hard work. The sweat of the brow puts meat on the table, pays the rent, and […]
Day Seven – The Holy of Holies
November 22, 2013 By
Our parish has been holding services in the hall for the past year. Not an easy thing to deal with, especially for those who grew up in our old building, with its wonderful acoustics, iconography, and architecture. It is hard for some people to feel the presence of God in the hall. I sympathize with […]
Day Six – Glory
November 21, 2013 By
We just finished celebrating the All Night Vigil for the Feast of the Holy Archangel Michael and All the Bodiless Hosts (our parish feast). One of the neat things about the Vigil service is that it is loaded with hymnography; Lord I Call, Litya, Aposticha, Canon, Praises, plus Tropars and the Kondak, all of them […]
Day Five – He who began a good work in you
November 19, 2013 By
Saint Paul is such a great example of leadership. First, he gave himself 100% in service to God and the Church, showing us what commitment looked like, what it costs, and how it can transform people and communities. I love that. Enthusiasm is contagious, and St. Paul was enthusiastic for all the right things. […]
