Many listeners have asked about Fr. Tom's favorite books. In today's episode he identifies them and tells us why. The list includes: The Sayings of the Desert Fathers The Arena - Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov The Art of Prayer - St. Theophan the Recluse St. Silouan the Athonite We Shall See Him As He Is - Elder Sophrony His Life is Mine - Archimandrite Sophrony Christ, Our Way and Our Life - Archimandrite Zachariah The Hidden Man of the Heart Remember Thy First Love - Archimandrite Zachariah The Complete Fenelon Atheist Delusions - David Bentley Hart The Abolition of Man - CS Lewis

In his opening remarks at St Sophia/Dripping Springs, Texas, Fr. Joseph plugs a couple books from Ancient Faith Publishing before touching on one of the benefits of attending a retreat: Vision.

Fr. John shares about the healing of the man with palsy, let down through the roof by his four friends (from Mark 2:1-12). He mentions St. Gregory of Palamas' explanation of our friends who help lead us to Christ for healing: self-condemnation, confession of our sins, renunciation of our sins, and prayer.

Fr. John shares from Jude 3.

Fr. John Whiteford discusses the importance of baptism as it unites us with Christ.

Fr. John helps us to understand our call to become the Saints of God by His Grace.

Fr. John shares the story of David, Saul, and Doeg the Edomite as an example of the end of the wicked.

When the disciples were confronted with the impossible task of feeding 5,000 men plus women and children, they forgot that their Lord was all they needed!

In Orthodoxy we often hear and read about the Uncreated Light of God. What is this Uncreated Light? Can we experience this Divine Light or is it something only Saints can experience? Join Michael as he explains certain Scriptures that illuminate our understanding of God’s Uncreated Light, and shares thoughts and experiences that demonstrate how all of us can partake of the Divine Light and experience the Transcendent in our ordinary daily lives.

Fr. Seraphim shares about the life of St. Brendan.

The devil wants us to forget him. His ultimate success would be to make us believe that he is not even real, that he is just the product of our imagination. Once that happens, the flood-gates of sin are wide open in us and our salvation is in great danger.

Join Fr. Seraphim and the Monasteries of Mull and Iona on a pilgrimage to St Brendan's Island: Eileach an Naoimh—'The Rock of the Saint'.

You can run into the most amazing and interesting blog on the web, only to find out it’s a chore to navigate. When it comes to websites, good content alone doesn’t make for success – the entire experience needs to be enjoyable. Think about your blog as a library. It needs to be inviting, easy […]

The post How to Design a User-Friendly WordPress Blog appeared first on Leaving Work Behind.

Instead of asking "why is this happening" perhaps we should be asking "what should we be doing?"

With the New Year around the corner, people are making decisions about which diet to try. In this episode, Rita shares what the research shows about eating the Holy Orthodox way. 

Aquí le ofrecemos algo mas para compartir en Glorificando a Dios. Comenzaremos con esta primera de lo que esperamos sean más entrevistas ocasionales en el futuro para compartir algo más sobre los acontecimientos de la Iglesia Ortodoxa en América Latina. Esta entrevista es con el Hieromonje Serafín (Mendoza Segundo) en México sobre la Iglesia Ortodoxa y su trabajo misionero en esa región. As an additional offering to Glorifying God, we will begin with this first of many occasional interviews so that we can share something more about the accomplishments of the Orthodox Church in Latin America. The following interview is with Hieromonk Serafim (Mendoza Segundo) in Mexico about the Orthodox Church and his missionary work in that region.

Discussing the Parable of the Talents, Fr. Andrew speaks on what it means for us to have spiritual currency and how we ought to spend it.

Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick and Steven Christoforou take to the streets of Manhattan and ask people what they believe in. What they hear surprised them and might surprise you, too.

Fr. Evan concludes his discussion of chapter 7, introduces chapter 8, and addresses the feeding of the 4,000.

What do those words in the liturgy mean? And how do we accomplish this? Fr. John enlightens us with the answers.

Fr. John Oliver talks about integrity.

Fr. John Oliver reflects on suffering.

It's called the new commandment and the greatest commandment. It is LOVE. And, sometimes, love must trump the rules as Fr. Joseph explains in this week's podcast.

Fr. Joseph manages to connect grandma with KISS, mama with a dirty slugger, catgut with a knee bone, wrestling with a loser, and God Himself with bending the rules -- all in under 12 minutes! (This episode is taken from the new audio version of "We Came, We Saw, We Converted: The Lighter Side of Orthodoxy in America", available from Conciliar Press.)

Did you ever try to find something even remotely Orthodox in your local superstore, gift shop, or bible book store? Chances are, you'll find all manner of things purporting to be spiritual, religious, new-fangled and Christian -- though nary even a wall calendar reflecting the Ancient Faith. Besides, what should you do when you do find one?

It always comes on a Thursday and, after a familiar dialogue of forty days, it always leaves one speechless (so to speak). In this episode from 2007, Fr. Joseph looks at the "Hi's" and "Hello's" of the Feasts.

Sometimes you can judge a podcast by its title!

FYI, this episode is a gentle rant. It's not PC, but GTGFAT.

This conversation with Bill Black, OCMC Missionary to Kenya, was recorded during the International Orthodox Theological Association conference in Iasi, Romania (9-12 January 2019). Bill gave a talk on this subject at the conference and was gracious enough to take time away from the sessions to talk about it for the podcast. Enjoy the show!

In this cross-over episode, Fr. Anthony talks with his friend Pastor Michael Landsman, co-host of the Areopagus Podcast, about their CPE experiences, Fr. Anthony's transition to a new life, playing D&D, and how important it is for clergy to have (non-parishioner) friends in their lives for discernment and relaxed fellowship. Enjoy the show!

Today, Fr. Anthony talks with Fr. Gregory Jensen, PhD, about the difference between isolation and solitude, how to cultivate transcendent introspection, the difference between pastoring and controlling, and the challenge of baptizing authoritarian tendencies. This is a recording of Fr. Anthony's livestream. Enjoy the show!

In this episode, Fr. Anthony continues the themes from his discussion with Fr. Gregory Jensen on transcendent introspection and a good test of our relationship with Christ (and complexity): can we love President Trump AND Antifa? This is a recording of Fr. Anthony's livestream. Enjoy the show!

Great Lent is a preparation for the ultimate Pascha—for the end of time and Christ's return.

Elissa and her Tending the Garden of Our Hearts co-author, Kristina Wenger, discuss the nuts and bolts of their new book of daily Lenten meditations for Families and their ongoing Tending the Garden podcast, including how the meditations can be adjusted for use in church school classrooms.

Fr. Michael addresses the passages in the gospels where Jesus instructs his disciples to buy swords, Peter's use of the sword, and our own response. "When you look at the Orthodox tradition, there is quite a mixed bag regarding violence and the use of weapons.... When we use force to oppose those who oppose us, when we end up fighting fire with fire, we destroy the ability of our enemy to hear. We cut off the ear of the very ones Jesus came to save."

Fr. Michael talks about charismatic Protestant Christianity.

We affirm as central to the Great Tradition both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, but today Fr. Tom focuses on the humanity of Christ as our Friend and Brother.

The guys watched “Independence Day: Resurgence.” Christian enjoyed it. Steve? Not so much. They discuss what worked in the movie, as well as what didn’t, and wildly speculate about the theological implications of alien life. Plus, they wrap up with their Top 5 favorite alien characters of all time.

The guys are pumped to talk about the final chapter of the first decade of the MCU, Avengers: Endgame! They discuss how grief and loss affect everyone differently, the sticky implications and universal appeal of time travel, and how sacrifice will always win the day. They close with their Top 5 Final Chapters.

The girls discuss the novel, Transcendent Kingdom. They address issues of cross-pressure between belief and doubt, the role or purpose in our lives, and how the modern self is buffered against engagement with the transcendent.

Are we ascending in holiness with Christ through the pains and challenges of this world?

Christ calls us to ascend with Him into the Kingdom of Heaven, becoming like Him in His holiness even now in the Church.

Fr. Philip LeMasters explains the meaning of the parable of the Vineyard and its significance for us today as the new tenants of the vineyard.

If we want to approach Lent in a spiritually healthy way that will enable us to participate already in life eternal, we too must offer up ourselves.

By rising into heavenly glory as the God-Man, Christ has shown us what it means to become truly human in the divine image and likeness.

Both the bleeding woman and Jairus were at the end of their rope. They faced circumstances so dark that they could not imagine how they would be delivered from them. The gravity of their challenges is reflected by how little these characters speak in their encounters with Christ. They did not use many words to show whatever level of faith they had in Him, perhaps because what was at stake was beyond their ability to name.

Through the Lord’s great Self-Offering, even the most wretched person may enter into the blessedness of the Kingdom through humble faith and repentance. Even the most notorious sinner may become a glorious saint and shine brightly with eternal glory.

The good news of our Lord’s resurrection extends to everyone and the entire world. The Church directs our attention during the Paschal season to how some very different people came to share in the life of our Lord, such as the disciple Thomas, the Myrrh-Bearing Women, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and the paralyzed man. Today we focus on someone who was different from all of them by worldly standards, for they were Jews and she was a Samaritan. We know her in the Church as the Great Martyr Photini, but in that time and place she would have seemed a very unlikely candidate to become a great evangelist of Christ’s salvation.