Join Michael as he offers a reflection on how and why the liturgical life of the church should be lived continuously both inside and outside of the church walls, how Christ teaches and demonstrates this in the Gospel, and how we can sometimes make our liturgical worship a requirement instead of a means to draw closer to Christ and love others.

Join Michael as he discusses the Book of Job as a case study in suffering and the importance of how we receive our suffering; how it is often what defines our salvation and belief in and relationship to God; what God gives and does not give to us in our suffering; and how our suffering can be a mystery and those closest to us can often create obstacles for us to receive it well.

St. Porphyrios wrote, “Whoever wants to become a Christian must first become a poet.” Most of us are not poets so does this preclude us from being true Christians? Join Michael as he explores God’s poetic and artistic nature and how to understand and connect to Him through the divine language of symbol, beauty, and our own personal artistry even while living in a culture dominated by utilitarianism and reductionism.

Christ says “your faith has made you well” specific to three healings in the Gospel accounts. This phrase means much more than we think it does and understanding it in full opens our eyes to how we should be living our faith and why many of us are not. Join Michael as breaks this simple phrase down with all of its layers of meaning and what we should be doing daily to be made well.

Join Michael as he discusses the failure of the first fast in the Bible and its implications to us; how fasting is not about food the way we typically approach it; and fasting’s corporate and communal nature and what it means to us as persons not individuals.

Join Michael as he discusses how we are either living in repentance or rebellion at any given time in our response to God grace, and how this determines the quality of our existence both now and in the life to come.

Join Michael as he discusses false power versus real power, our attraction to the former at our own expense, and how the powerlessness Christ demonstrates for us is the true power we gain when we let go of our need for control and surrender to God.

Join Michael as he discusses what a darnel is and what it means to us, how easy it is to be deceived by the spirit of the age, and what we need to do to ensure we gain and apply Christ-like discernment in all matters.

Join Michael as he discusses what eros and agape really mean and why they cannot be separated, how growth in love is deeply linked to suffering, how disordered desire can grip us, how we never truly sin alone, and how it always affects both us and others when we act on our disordered desires.

Join Michael as he discusses why we need separation that is holy before we can have true unity with each other; and how many are choosing an unholy type of separation based on fear, ideologies, and other things are the entry to the wide gate leading to destruction.

Join Michael as he examines the role expression of opinion plays in society today, how to guard ourselves against our own and other’s opinions that fuel our pride and cause anger and division, and what to do to maintain humility, thoughtfulness, and love of others.

Join Michael as he examines what it means to experience true freedom, and why what we think is freedom is a form of bondage we don’t recognize.

Join Michael as he examines trauma and traumatic episodes from his life, and explores how to use them to develop a deeper trust in God.

Join Michael for a discussion on why forgiving ourselves is often so hard and what we need to understand and do to open our hearts to self-forgiveness.

Join Michael as he discusses the success of failure and the failure of success, and how our worldly success can be a blessing or a curse depending on we approach it spiritually.

Join Michael as he shows why restraint is Christ-like and liberating, and the path of ultimate freedom out of the self-inflicted tyranny of our own thoughts and behaviors.

Join Michael as he discusses the complementary nature of light and darkness, how both are under God’s control, and how we can understand this to maintain hope during tough times, grow in faith, and shine the Light of Christ to others.

Join Michael as he discusses how we should understand time and reconcile our past through the eternally crucified Christ, and let Him transform it and free us of guilt, shame, and regret.

Join Michael in discussion of what it means in the Liturgy when the Priest prays “And let us ask for a Christian end to our life, peaceful, without shame and suffering, and for a good defense before the awesome judgment seat of Christ” and how that should drive our daily behavior.

Join Michael in a discussion about prayerful and practical ways to frame our understanding in regard to our difficulties and setbacks, and deal with them in a spiritually healthy way.

Join Michael in a discussion about how we often neglect our bodies, the physical and spiritual ramifications to ourselves and loved ones, how this is profoundly unspiritual, and what we need to think and do to treat our physical selves the way God intends us to.

Join Michael in a discussion about living intentionally to embed hopefulness in our body, mind and soul, and accept death with the hope of eternal life.

Join Michael for a discussion about the meaning of hypocrisy and what Christ said about it in the Gospel, and how to understand and protect ourselves from this deadly sin that causes us to wear “masks” and fall into self-deception, deception of others, and spiritual death.

Join Michael as he discusses questions about why good people suffer, bad people thrive, and reconciling this with the goodness of God.

Join Michael in a discussion of some of the spiritual pitfalls we can fall into during Great Lent if we are not careful and attentive to its true purpose

Join Michael is a discussion on our need to navigate the difficult liminal spaces in our lives with patience and discernment, as illustrated beautifully in the story of St. Mary of Egypt, and how it is possible to overcome sin and depravity to fulfill our calling to become saints and living icons of Christ.

Join Michael in a discussion of how to guard our hearts and minds against the ancient sins of infidelity and individualism that are both subtle and celebrated in today’s culture.

Join Michael in a discussion of the difficulty of getting out of our own heads, the cultural and spiritual challenges that perpetuate this, and leaning to live our faith through our hearts and not just our minds.

Join Michael in a discussion about an encounter he had with man with severe facial injuries, and what it caused him to reflect on concerning the face of Christ and the theological understanding of our faces that should guide our daily encounters with everyone.

Join Michael in a discussion of our desires, how they get in the away of the elusive peace we seek, and what we need to do to find true contentment.

Join Michael in a discussion of God’s goodness versus our own goodness, and why the prevalent cultural belief of many that all you have to be is a good person is results in so many unintended consequences.

Fr. Seraphim explains what it really means to be free to become who you are.

Father Seraphim reflects on the life of Saint Columba, and talks about spiritual fathers.

Fr. Seraphim reflects on his experiences confessing, the role of a spiritual father, and he gives three recommendations to help get the most out of each confession.

Fr. Seraphim continues his discussion from last week on how to get more out of each confession, by recommending three more exercises to help grow closer to both the spiritual father and Christ.

Father Seraphim reflects on some of the content from his past podcasts, and asks for forgiveness because of the brief hiatus he took in posting new material.

Fr. Seraphim was in Paris shortly after the November 13 attacks. He reflects on what our response as Christians should be. How do we hold on to our Christianity? What is our role as peacemakers? He reminds us that we fight for is not of this world.

Fr. Seraphim reads a section, To Pray is to Follow, from the booklet On Prayer. The text can be found at mullmonastery.com.

Fr. Seraphim reads the final section of the booklet On Prayer. The full text can be found at mullmonastery.com.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea continues his series on fasting with a discussion on how experience follows action. The fruit of fasting can take years to develop.

Fr. Seraphim begins a discussion on fasting and the importance of discernment in the spiritual life.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea concludes his series on fasting.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea continues his series on fasting.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea narrates the importance of struggle in the relationship with a spiritual father, through his own physical journey from his monastery to the Holy Mountain.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea talks about his reasons for taking a break from the podcast.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea delivers a talk in Atlanta, Georgia, about the importance of humility in extending our view of the world.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea delivers a talk in Atlanta, GA, about the power of our demons in those we meet, including the unborn.

From the States, Fr. Seraphim discusses the Orthodox perspective on the value of death.

Fr. Seraphim speaks about losing hope and temptation and how it is not a sin until we act upon it. He goes into detail about our salvation and the difference between falling into sin and being tempted.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea shares practical insights about developing a relationship with a spiritual father.