Jesus said that anyone who would come after Him should deny themselves and take up their crosses. We may think this is about doing hard, painful things, but Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick tells us it's actually an invitation.

Speaking on the Forefeast of the Annunciation, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick describes the feast as being God's answer to the buffered, fenced-in selves that we ironically construct to protect ourselves even while desiring someone to reach out in love.

Every day, we make hundreds of small choices that train us for selfishness. How does that affect our behavior, and how do we train ourselves to be like Christ instead? Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick explores some of our everyday experiences and what they mean for eternity.

On the Eve of Theophany, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick charges straight ahead into dragon territory, discussing what it means to confront the dragons in the water and also asking: Why don't we seem to see dragons any more?

Fr. Anthony interviews Fr. Gregory Jensen about the need for priests to know themselves.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony and Fr. Harry talk about one of the Demons of Noonday: self doubt. They point out the role that participation in the Divine Liturgy can have in diagnosing and overcoming it and encourage anyone who is suffering from pernicious self doubt to spend more time with their supportive brothers in the priesthood.

Join Fr. Anthony in Hartwell, GA as he talks with Professor Adam DeVille (University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, IN) about proper and improper ways of framing self-care, why it is so easy to get it wrong, and why it is important to get it right. They also spend quite a bit of time talking about reconciliation and polarization. Dr. DeVille is the author of Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power. He blogs (prolifically and well) at “Eastern Christian Books.” There’s a bit of ironically timed electronic mischief in the middle, but the worst of it has been edited out. This is the audio from Fr. Anthony’s YouTube livestream (12/21/2020). Professor DeVille’s article on this topic is available here.

I want to make clear to everyone that we will not be asking anyone about vaccination status. As in almost all matters, so with government health mandates, it is possible (probable) that very godly, intelligent and well-meaning people will disagree. Let’s not let self righteousness—and her children, fear, anger, and judgement—keep us from loving one another and believing the best of one another, even if we don’t see eye to eye on this or any other political or medical matter.

Self-importance is a tricky disease to diagnose, not in others, but in oneself. The problem lies in the fact that often (but not always) those who suffer from the spiritual sickness of self-importance are in positions that are actually important. Those of us who teach and/or lead in the Church or in politics or in education or in medicine or in business are indeed in positions of importance. However, it’s not the fact that we are in positions of importance that causes us to suffer from self-importance, but being in such a position does make it much harder for us to diagnose our disease.

Self-centeredness is an act of idolatry, addressed by giving of ourselves and our desires to meet the needs of others.

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.

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.

Now is the time to prepare for a spiritually beneficial Lent that will help us grow in the humility necessary to see ourselves and our neighbors clearly as we reorient our lives toward the great joy of Pascha.

Holy Week is not a time for rational theological speculation and argument. It is, instead, a time for entering into the deep mystery of the love of our Lord, of the great “I AM” Who remains infinitely beyond our full comprehension.

The devotion of the Myrrh-Bearers, Joseph, and Nicodemus shows us what true faith looks like, and it has nothing to do with figuring out how to use God to help us get what we want on our own terms in a pathetic attempt to distract ourselves from the fear of death.

The prophet Jeremiah helps us to consider, along with this Sunday’s gospels and epistle, the different ways in which God makes himself intimately known to each of us, and to all of us together, in the Church. (Luke 8:26-39; Gal 1:11-19; Luke 16:19-31; Jeremiah 31:31-34)

This week we read Revelation 19:1-10 in the light of Isaiah 61:10, Genesis 3:21, Matthew 16:27, and 1 Peter 5:5, noting that the praises of God are undergirded by substantial reasons, that we are called to cooperate in our salvation, and that we have been blessed in a way that confers unimaginable dignity upon human beings.

Be Yourself: Amim’s Great Discovery, written by Stephen Muse, illustrated by Dimitra Psychogiou (Saint Tikhon’s Monastery Press, 2016).

Fr. Ted explains that there is a huge difference between being popular and being the Son of God.

Fr. Ted calls us to know the truth about ourselves through the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos challenges the selfish love of "an eye for an eye" with the selfless love of Christ.

Dn. Michael Hyatt begins a new series in his class going through the book by Dr. Peter Bouteneff entitled How to Be a Sinner. Discovering ourselves as sinners is a first step.

Dn. Michael Hyatt continues going through the book How to Be a Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff. In this lesson, he speaks about the importance of self-awareness.

As sinners, how are we to look at ourselves? Dn. Michael Hyatt continues going through the book How to be a Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff.

In my Protestant days, I had no problem with anyone talking about Mary—so long as it was Christmas. On Boxing Day, that was it. Over. No more talking about Mary. What are we anyway, Catholics? It was understood that when we packed away the Nativity set, all talk of Mary got packed up along with it. And my proof that Bible-believing Christians should not talk about Mary? The New Testament never did. Well, hardly ever did—just long enough to narrate the Christmas story. Was she in the Acts of the Apostles? Not really. Was she in the Epistles? No. So there you go: no talking about Mary or calling her blessed.

Many people will (hopefully) identify the above quote as coming from the speech of Polonius in Act 1, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was part of the fatherly talk he gave to his son Laertes before the boy moved away to university. It is now often quoted as a bit of perennial wisdom for life (it was written by Shakespeare, after all). It is not as often known that it was part of a speech that Shakespeare meant to be recognized as almost meaninglessly platitudinous, a kind of Elizabethan “blah-blah-blah, yada-yada-yada”.

The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich man is a dramatic story about the end result of a selfish life. Fr Tom reminds us that our most fundamental call as Christians is, not only to love God, but also to love our neighbor. (Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost)

Dr. John Mark Reynolds speaks on the divide between pride and humility as they relate to self esteem.

Dr. John Mark Reynolds discusses the value in finding proper education.

Dr. Rossi welcomes guest Dr. Peter Bouteneff, Professor of Systematic Theology at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary to discuss a retreat he recently led about finding the proper view of self as a person created in the image of God.

Dr. Albert Rossi discusses the deep and important topic of self image as it relates to our life in Christ.

Dr. Albert Rossi follows up on his podcast, "Everyone Is Doing The Best They Can," by asking us to consider the importance of forgiveness of one's self as we engage in repentance towards joy.

Dr. Albert Rossi encourages us to avoid the savior complex and instead to be gentle with ourselves as we seek to grow in Christ.

What are we to make of the Genesis account of Cain and Abel? In this broadcast, Fr. Matthew examines a portion of St Cyprian of Carthage's Treatise on the Lord's Prayer that shows forth Abel as the first martyr, the example of true self-sacrifice. And it is a lesson with a practical aim: the quenching of anger and hatred, and the discovery of a life offered more wholly to God.

In a broadcast for the Feast of the Nativity According to the Flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, we reflect on two hymns of St. Ephrem the Syrian and a portion of a homily by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco on the glory of the night of Christ's full revelation.

In a broadcast for the Feast of the Nativity According to the Flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, we reflect on two hymns of St. Ephrem the Syrian and a portion of a homily by St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco on the glory of the night of Christ’s full revelation.