Elissa describes the "Psalter group" and its purpose during Great Lent.

Fr. Michael concludes his two-part series on discussing the comparison between vocations: marriage, monasticism, and singleness.

Many people hit a roadblock in their relationship with God when the weight of their sins catches up to them, when they realize they are trapped in a cycle of sin or habit of ungodly behaviour that they cannot control.

Some of us may be facing death at this time—just as Lazarus did. Some of us may have a loved one who has or will soon die—as Mary and Martha did. And some of us, most of us probably, are just largely inconvenienced. And with the Churches closed, all of us may be wondering with Mary and Martha where Jesus is, for if Jesus were here, surely He would not let this happen. But Jesus is here. The same Jesus who raised Lazarus from the tomb, also first allowed him to ‘fall asleep’ in the tomb.

The girls take on Delia Owens’ novel, Where the Crawdads Sing. They discuss how love is central to the human experience, the duality of nature, and whether the heart is affected by concealing sin. They close with their Top 5 Outcasts.

People try to serve two masters because they lack the spiritual clarity to see that the good things of the creation are not God’s equals or rivals, but blessings to be offered back to Him for the salvation of the world.

As much as we do not like to acknowledge it, Christ’s Kingdom is not about giving us religion or anything else on our own terms. He calls us to offer Him “the fruits [of our lives] in their seasons.”

Like the saints we remember today, let us turn away from such distractions and instead orient ourselves toward the blessedness of a Kingdom that remains not of this world. Let us offer all our blessings back to Him with gratitude, for that is the only way to live as those who know that the good things of this life are not ends in themselves, but points of entrance to eternal life.

Let us not despair even when the darkness threatens to overwhelm us, but instead mindfully open our hearts to the light of Christ as we trust that He will minister to us at our point of greatest need and make us participants in His salvation.

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” These words from the brokenhearted father in today’s gospel lesson resonate with all of us who are honest about what the deep challenges of our lives reveal about our spiritual state.

It is easy to overlook how often the Lord used money and possessions to convey a spiritual message. Perhaps that is because almost everyone struggles with being overly attached to material things, for they can meet our basic physical needs and provide comfort and a sense of security. Due to our self-centered desires, however, they so easily become false gods as we make them the measure of our lives. As Christ taught, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also….You cannot serve both God and mammon.” (Matt. 6: 21, 24)

Phil. 2:5-11, Luke 10: 38-42, Luke 11: 27-28 appear to be odd readings for the celebration of Holy Mary. Let’s consider, with the help of Isaiah 45 and St. John Chrysostom why they are so very “meet and right” in remembering the humble one who has been made “more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious than the seraphim.”

This week we consider the reading from Acts 16 for the sixth Sunday of Easter, reading it in the light of Psalm 1. These readings discloses different mindsets, some to caution us, some to be our models, as we follow Christ on the Way.

On this first Sunday after Pentecost, we clarify and amplify the readings from Matthew and Hebrews by looking to the story of Solomonia and her seven brave sons (2 Maccabees 7). This woman, known in the early Church as a prophetess, spoke clearly of God’s creating and resurrecting power, and so inspires us, in our challenges today, to follow Christ to glory.

We think about the profundity of this well-known hymn that focusses upon the Incarnation, looking to passages in Isaiah and Daniel, as well as the New Testament.

The apostle’s appeal for unity is beautifully exemplified in the life of Joseph, and poignantly pictured in the Psalm about oil on Aaron’s beard. May God’s appeal, pattern, and picture help us to unity in this time of disagreement. (Ephesians 4:1-6, Genesis 37-50, Psalm 132/3)

We look to John’s intriguing vision of the Temple and the two witnesses in Revelation 11:1-14, aided by the visions of two earlier prophets in Ezekiel 40 and Zechariah 4. John’s images help us to understand that the bitter-sweet scroll pertains to us, and our witness in a God-defying world, as we follow the slaughtered-standing Lamb wherever He goes.

This week we revel in the colors, sounds, and wonder of Old Testament Canticle 8 (Dan 3:57-88 LXX). In this exuberant song of praise, we bring the whole cosmos before God, and enter into the praise that flows in different ways from everything that He has created.

"The Blessing of the Loaves," from Feasts of Christ and the Theotokos and Miracles of the Lord by Spiritual Fragrance Publishing (2012)

"The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter," from Feasts of Christ and the Theotokos and Miracles of the Lord by Spiritual Fragrance Publishing (2012)

"The Raising of Lazarus," from Feasts of Christ and the Theotokos and Miracles of the Lord by Spiritual Fragrance Publishing (2012)

"Saint Basil the Great," by Vasilia Tussing, age 11, winner of the 10-year anniversary children's story competition.

73. Book 1: "The Passing of Elijah" from The Bible for Young People by Zoe Kanavas (Narthex Press, 2005) (11.32 mins) Book 2: : Saint Innocent of Alaska, Apostle and Missionary by Sarah Elizabeth Cowie (Conciliar Press, 2005) chapter 13 (10.52 mins)

"The Raising of Lazarus" from The Bible for Young People by Zoe Kanavas (Narthex Press, 2005)

Fr. Ted laments the fact that the traditions of the Church are not passed down to the next generation with enough frequency.

Fr. Ted reminds us that the best thing we can do to help the youth is to be an example.

Fr. Ted reminds us that nothing we have in this life is truly ours.

The whole point of the Christian life is to stay on course. Sin is deviating from that course.

Parents should be the first teachers of the Faith to their children.

Fr. Ted explains why we bless the waters on Theophany.

Fr. Ted encourages us to allow the story of the healing of the paralytic to move us closer into relationship with God and one another as we live in the light of the resurrection of Christ!

Fr. Ted gave a presentation at the Romanian Orthodox Youth Assoc. (ROYA) North American Conference held in Beaverton, Ontario, Canada from October 5-7, 2017. In his talk, Fr. Ted explores the current political landscape and how it affects Orthodox youth who attend secular schools where Christianity is subtly oppressed by often ultra-liberal agendas.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos speaks about the Gospel reading on the Paralytic Man.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos preaches on Jesus feeding five thousand people with five loaves and two fish.

The fathers tell us it is important to know ourselves, but how many of us can really say that we do? Read the transcript HERE.

The Orthodox view existence as directed toward an encounter with a personal God who gives meaning to all the dimensions of earthly human existence.

Listen to reflections from Fr. Nicolaie at St. John the Compassionate Mission.

Frank (or Isaac, in the Church), a regular member of the community, passed away suddenly near the end of March. A mixup with his phone provided the community with the chance to learn of his passing, and opened the door for his daughter to share her grief with others who also loved her father.

The church is called today to care for life, to offer an open space where the soul of man can pray and sing, and have an encounter with Christ, who listens to us from the cross.

Fr. Nicolaie invites us to join the community in looking into the eyes of the Theotokos from a humble position at the feet of her icon; and to live ascetically in a way that opens our own eyes to charity and mercy.

Martha begins a series addressing the topic of hospitality. Join her today for a look at feeding teenagers and the blessing we can find being hospitable to others.

Martha explains why we should seek God's blessing on our spiritual meals in addition to our earthly ones. She also explains how her podcast got its name.

in some cases, Meta is automatically creating the pages #

Fr. Apostolos shares on All Saints Sunday, "The memory of all the saints, those who we know and those whose names only God knows, may be we inspired by their witness and their confession from all of those from ancient times to more recent times for whom there was no turning back."

Fr. Apostolos shares the story of the Nativity of Christ, interspersed with Christmas carols.

Fr. Apostolos delivers a timely reminder to bear good fruits and tend the garden that we have been given.

Fr. Apostolos Hill shares a short homily and prayers for the back-to-school students. The first prayer at the end for parents to offer for their children is from Fr. James Meena of blessed memory which was written in 1978 and printed in the Word magazine. The second prayer is one that Fr. Apostolos wrote for the Cathedral students.

The price to be paid for unceasing prayer.

In my "Spam Suspects" email folder today, I noticed some spam which used Google as a redirection service, by linking to http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.somespamsite.com. When trying this technique with some other site, I found that google responds to this query with a 302 redirect to the site in question. Clearly, the spammer was using this system to lure people who trust Google... (176 words)