The Great Commission just doesn't apply to us, right?

It is only September, but stores are already displaying their Halloween "goods." What are we to make of this holiday as Orthodox Christians?

In this episode, Fr. Anthony and Fr. Gregory Jensen talk about some of the themes in St. John Chrysostom's On the Priesthood. Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony as he talks with Fr. Gregory Jensen, PhD, to get some advice on the role of the priest/pastor in crazy times. It's a difficult conversation, but it's important for us to have trusted friends in our lives who will tell us things we don't want to hear. Fr. Gregory is wise, experienced, and courageous enough to say things that will satisfy precisely no one. Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony and Amon Sul co-host Richard Rohlin as Richard shares his origin story (the spider bite was a bilingual household!), some thoughts on kata, and his love of language. This edition serves as a warmup for their upcoming conversation on the need to get the stories of ourselves, our nation, and the cosmos right. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony talks with Fr. Gregory about scientific theories about the origin of thoughts and how the Orthodox understanding covers and improves on them both theologically and practically. This should not be surprising as Orthodoxy grounds anthropology within the fullness of the faith and monastic wisdom is the practical fruit of this theology as it has been lived, developed, and preserved for many generations. Enjoy the show!

Elissa reminds us that we are temples of God, meant to light up and become a lamp for the world.

Elissa talks with Alisa Rakich-Brooks, author of Let There Be Light, the first in a new series of Orthodox children's books, about how our children are experiencing the relationship between religion and science and steps we might take to frame scientific inquiry in an Orthodox light.

Fr. Michael discusses "the dark night of the soul," an expression coined by St. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic.

Fr. Michael addresses disappointment—what it is and how we should deal with it.

Fr. Michael talks about how our thoughts influence our lives. "This is success: to become by grace a God-filled human being, to become all that God has called us to be."

Fr. Michael uses the illustration of rock climbing to talk about fear and freedom.

Fr. Michael shares an article by Abbess Victoria of St. Barbara's Monastery (Santa Paula, California) on ways to handle worries and distractions while praying.

Fr. Michael talks about the sin of becoming "too righteous."

Fr. Michael continues his discussion from last week. "We should not teach our children that anything outside us can defile us.... The defilement is already in our hearts and what we avoid, we avoid because it stirs up the disordered passions of my heart."

Fr. Michael shares from St. Isaac the Syrian. "St. Isaac advises us that when we find ourselves confronting either tedium or despondency, we need to call to mind why we are doing what we are doing. Why do I pray? Why do I read my bible? Why do I do any spiritual discipline that I do? I do it because I desire the hidden, spiritual realities. I desire to know God. St. Isaac tells us that we must allow this desire to generate expectation in us: expectation that God will come to my aid, expectation that soon something hidden will indeed be revealed to me; expectation that this simple act of being diligent and hanging in there will indeed bear fruit."

St. Isaac the Syrian refers to zeal as a guard dog. He refers to sinful and unwanted thoughts and impulses as birds that fly around our soul. Zeal is the guard dog that barks and warns us that these unwanted thoughts are there and motivates us to chase these birds away.

What should lay people do when they have a priest whose words or behaviour is unworthy of the grace of the priesthood? What should any person in authority do to better hear the voice of those under their care, especially when that voice is critical of them?

Fr. Michael Gillis shares about anger. "If I were to venture a guess as to the most commonly confessed passion that I hear in confessions, I would say that it is anger. Just about everyone is angry. According to many of the saints, anger and misdirected desire are the two main passions from which all vices and passions come."

Fr. Michael Gillis uses a gardening analogy to discuss dealing with the deep-rooted sins in life.

Most of the time, caring for our inner garden is more a matter of attention than of effort. The weeds of sinful and passionate thoughts can be pulled out pretty easily by merely recognizing them as sinful and turning your attention to Christ in prayer. The Jesus Prayer is probably the most common, or at least the most famous, form of prayer used by Orthodox Christians to turn their attention to Christ and away from sinful thoughts. However, sometimes the weeds get out of control. Sometimes weeds grow in the back corners of our garden where we don’t pay a lot of attention—until it is too late. Suddenly we realize that a pattern of thought that we had not looked at very carefully turns out to be harboring some pretty nasty sinful passions.

Someone recently asked me about how to understand the evil thoughts they experience.

The movement of thoughts in a man originates from four causes.

If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one (I John 2). Fr. Tom explores what the Scriptures mean by this term.

One of the great "I Am" statements in Scripture is in John's Gospel where Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world" (John 8:12). Today Fr. Tom explores the word "light" and the significance of Christ's claim.

In our Troparia for Nativity, we sing "Your Nativity, O Christ our God, has shone to the world the Light of wisdom! For by it, those who worshipped the stars, were taught by a star to adore You, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know You, the Orient from on High. O Lord, glory to You!" In today's episode, Fr. Tom reflects on these terms for Christ.

This week, Emma and Christina read (and watched) A Light Between Oceans. Join them as they discuss the danger of spiritual delusion, the path toward true love and repentance, and how the film adaptation missed the heart of the novel. They close with their Top 5 Worst Book-To-Film Adaptions.

The girls read Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, and even Christina loved it. They discuss how each of us is broken, how our response to that brokenness shapes us, and how each of us is called to become holy in a unique way. They close with the Top 5 Women With a Cause.

The girls are back to discuss Kimberley Freeman’s novel, Wildflower Hill. They tackle the book’s portrayal of religious people, how shame ought to lead to repentance, and how judgment can be transformed into love through the lens of suffering. They close with their Top 5 Worst Popular Books.

The girls discuss the Amazon Prime original show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. They discuss the importance of family, the common incongruence between “who we are” and “what we do,” and the nature of our true identity in Christ. They close with Emma’s Top 5 Comedians.

The girls take on the highly acclaimed film, Eighth Grade. They discuss how each of us wants to be known for who we are, how true relationship demands actual closeness, and how we present images of ourselves instead of authentic self-revelation. They Close with the Top 5 Things Middle Schoolers Have Recently Said.

This week the girls revisit the critically acclaimed Amazon Prime show, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. They discuss the need to be clear on our lives priorities, how where we are shapes who we become, and how each of us is called to follow Christ authentically. They close with their Top 5 Songs Released in 1960.

SPOILER ALERT The girls discuss the Ancient Faith Publishing book, The Lightkeeper. They discuss the relationship between suffering and salvation and how love is both a choice and painful, but it is ultimately essential for a meaningful life.

Fr. Philip calls us to open our eyes to those areas of our own lives which need to change, as we become children of light.

Fr. Philip encourages us to be the light of the world by serving Christ in our immediate circumstances.

Jesus called his followers to become the light of the world by becoming holy, united through the healing and transforming grace of the One who is the Light of the World.

As we prepare for the coming nativity of Jesus, we need to follow the example of Blind Bartimaeus who opened his life to the Light of Christ in humility.

Fr. Philip LeMasters calls us to live as the reflection of the One who is 'Light of the World.'

Let us get over our pride and become living epiphanies of the salvation of the One Who was baptized by St. John the Forerunner in the Jordan.

On this second Sunday of Great Lent, we commemorate St. Gregory Palamas, who defended the experience of monks who, in the stillness of prayer from their hearts, saw the Uncreated Light of God.

Regardless of the particulars of our life circumstances, let us use the challenges posed by the global pandemic as reminders of the folly of making life in this world our false god.

The man in our gospel reading whose sight the Lord restored had been blind from birth, having known only darkness throughout his life. He symbolizes us all, for until the light of the Savior’s resurrection, humanity had wandered in spiritual blindness and captivity.

As odd as it will sound to many in our culture, Christ does not call us to become successful or powerful by earthly standards, including those of our own society. He calls us to shine with holiness such that His glory radiates through us and illumines a world darkened by sin and death. Doing so requires that we do not rest content with being good citizens or moral people, regardless of how those terms are defined.

The season of Pascha has only just begun. Because of His bodily resurrection, we must become holy in our bodies and treat our suffering neighbors accordingly. Let us continue to celebrate by participating as fully as possible in the joy of the empty tomb. Now nothing other than our own refusal can hold us back from becoming truly human, for “Christ is Risen!”

We must live distinctive lives that draw others to share in the divine healing that our Lord has made available to all.

In the remaining days before Christmas, let us embrace the radically disorienting calling to hope in nothing and no one other than the God-Man Who is born to heal and fulfill all who bear the divine image and likeness.

We are baptized into Christ’s death in order to rise up with Him into a life of holiness in which we regain the robe of light rejected by our first parents. In every aspect of our lives, we must become radiant with the divine glory shared with us by the New Adam.

If we want to know Christ’s peace, which conquers even the fear of the grave, we must become radiant with His Light, which means that we must unite ourselves to Him in faith, hope, and love from the depths of our souls.

By the grace of our Lord, we may become the light of the world as we do what the world does not prize: praying in secret; struggling to fast as we best we can; giving generously to the needy without drawing attention to ourselves; forgiving and praying for those who wrong us; mindfully rejecting the temptation to praise ourselves or to condemn anyone else; and confessing and repenting of our sins on a regular basis.

Most people today surely do not think of the weeks before Christmas as a time of preparation for being loosed from bondage to the corrupting forces of sin and death. More commonly, we use this time of year to strengthen our addiction to the love of money, possessions, food, drink, and other worldly pleasures.