"Those in the monastic life have spiritual fathers and mothers to help them in obtaining humility. We in the world have the very life in the world itself to humble us. "

And those who are outside the Orthodox Church, even those outside any kind of Christian faith whatsoever, what about these? Could these be the poor, the blind and the lame of today? As the Gentiles were outside the ancient covenant with Abraham, yet were invited, even compelled into the Kingdom of the Messiah because of the unbelief of many of the Jews, will we Christians be spared if we do not ourselves put on Christ? Is it possible that those not so nearly blessed as we are, those blind to the Creed, poor without the Divine Liturgy, and lame in regard to faith, will not these, perhaps, be the ones compelled into the Kingdom of Heaven while those of us with every blessing, yet distracted by every worldly concern, are left outside? St. Paul tells us to consider both the goodness and the severity of God.

Fr. Stephen De Young kicks off the discussion of St. John's Revelation.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 1.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 1.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 2.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 2.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the discussion on Revelation, Chapter 3.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion on Revelation, Chapter 3.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins discussing Revelation, Chapter 4.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of Revelation Chapter 4 and continues through Chapters 5 and 6.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins discussing Revelation, Chapter 7.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes Revelation Chapter 7 and discusses Chapter 8 in its entirety.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins to discuss Revelation, Chapter 9.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes Revelation, Chapter 9. He also discusses Chapter 10 in its entirety.

Fr. Stephen De Young discusses the first three verses of Revelation, Chapter 11.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 11.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 12.

Fr. Stephen De Young finishes up the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 12, and starts on Chapter 13.

Fr. Stephen De Young continues the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 13. Here's the link to the Revelation 7 episode that he mentions: ancientfaith.com/podcasts/wholecounsel/revelation_7_1_8.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 13.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 14.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of Revelation, Chapter 14.

Fr. Stephen De Young discusses Revelation, Chapter 15.

Fr. Stephen De Young discusses Revelation, Chapter 16.

Fr. Stephen De Young discusses the first part of Revelation, Chapter 17.

Fr. Stephen De Young continues the discussion of Revelation.

Fr. Stephen De Young discusses Revelation, Chapter 20. He references Revelation 12, which he discussed in this episode: https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/wholecounsel/revelation_121_9.

Fr. Stephen De Young finishes up the discussion of Revelation.

In this final reflection in the Names of Jesus series, Fr. Tom Hopko shows how the Name of Jesus is supreme.

Canceling Arrested Development was a huge mistake. Some might say that bringing it back for Season Four was an even huger mistake. Steve and Christian explore what makes certain shows land with an audience, why Arrested Development was before its time, and how we in the Church can avoid making the same huge mistakes as the producers of many TV Shows that were canceled too early (or not early enough) and were brought back for more. Of course, they end with another Top Five. Typical.

This week, the guys watch Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. They discuss how the narrative was deeper than in the original cartoon version, the power of self-sacrificial love, and the reality that what we do (both good and bad) touches everything. They close with their Top 5 Most Unlikely Couples.

Christian and Steve take a dive into the world of stand-up comedy with the John Mulaney’s Netflix special The Comeback Kid. The guys discuss views of masculinity, the power of self-reproach and honesty, and the ability of comedy to take heavy topics and make them approachable-if-irreverent. They close with their Top 5 Comedy Specials.

The guys couldn’t wait to watch and talk about Stranger Things 2. Join them as they explore the power of truth, our need for family and friends, and how transcendence plays into our experience of being human. They close with their Top 5 Unlikely Heroes. For more from the Y2AM team.

The guys are back to discuss Black Panther. They discuss how art breeds connection, how grace given is meant to be shared, and how stories shape our understanding of who we are. They close with their Top 5 Family Conflicts.

The guys watched The Incredibles 2 and loved it! They discuss the role of family, the effects of trauma, and how media affects our lives. They close with their Top 5 Quirky Families.

Since we're all trying to be socially responsible and live in a state of self-imposed quarantine, Christian Gonzalez and Steve Christoforou want to offer a little bit of lightheartedness. That's why they will be going LIVE every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern/9:30 a.m. Pacific with a brand-spanking new episode of Pop Culture Coffee Hour! Join them at www.y2am.org/PopCultureLive and be a part of the conversation!

The girls take a listen to Taylor Swift's new new album, evermore. They discuss dealing with mistakes, life after death, and how repentance is not the same as getting off the hook.

Christina and Emma discuss the 2004 film, Finding Neverland. They discuss themes such as how stories help us make sense of reality, the importance of the imagination for holding onto joy, and how the grief we carry transforms who we are. And as always, what they're cooking!

The path to eternal life runs through our neighbors, especially those we are inclined to overlook, disregard, and even despise. How we treat the hungry and thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and the prisoner reveals the true state of our souls. How we serve our suffering and inconvenient neighbors, whoever they are, is how we serve our Lord.

If we are to complete our Lenten journey to our Lord’s Cross and glorious resurrection, we must learn to entrust ourselves to Him as honestly and fully as we possibly can.

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.

Unlike the rich man, we must not walk away in sadness when our weakness before our passions becomes apparent, especially when we realize how far short we have fallen of the holiness to which Christ calls us.

Whenever we pray, fast, and serve others with humility, we open ourselves to the healing light of the Lord and become more like Him. These practices are not reserved for those who have abandoned the world, but are necessary for all of us who remain weak before our passions with spiritual vision darkened by sin. The circumstances of our lives never excuse us from answering the call to become radiant with the divine energies of our Lord, but present their own opportunities to rise, take up our beds, and walk.

We have everything that we need to follow in the path of the apostles and saints in humbly obeying our Lord. That is how we can become radiant with the divine glory and obey the Savior’s calling: “Follow Me.”

There is simply no way around the truth that how we relate to other people reveals whether we are participating in the life of our Lord as we conform our character to His. What we do and refuse to do for neighbors who need our time, attention, and generosity in any form, we do or refuse to do for Him.

Christ calls us all to become like the Good Samaritan, binding up the wounds of our neighbors and refusing to narrow down the list of those whom we must learn to love as ourselves. Like St. John Chrysostom, let us refuse to think that we can rightly worship the Lord by confining our piety only to what we do in liturgical services. Instead, we must make every dimension of our life a point of entrance to the Kingdom of our great High Priest.

How we treat the hungry and thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and the prisoner, manifests whether we serve a Kingdom not of this world in which the last shall be first or whether we have become conformed to corruption.

Like the men in today’s gospel reading, we all need the healing of the Lord for our eyes, our mouths, and every aspect of who we are.

Many are strongly tempted today to allow the problems facing our culture and world to distract us from growing to maturity in the Christian life and bearing good fruit for the Kingdom of God. That is perfectly understandable in light of our constant access to global media and the gravity of current events.