The Apostle Paul reveals the central purpose of our Christian life together as Church when he tells the Ephesians that all the ministries of the Faith are meant to "attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

The monks on Mt. Athos use to greet one another, not with "How are you?" or "How are you doing?" but with "How is your prayer?" St. Paul tells the faithful at the Ephesian Church that the gifts God has given to His Church were meant to bring each of us to the unity of the faith, to maturity, to the full stature of Jesus Christ. So, is that what is happening in your life? If not, why not?

On this Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, we are confronted with a theology that invites us to know ourselves by seeing what God looks like in flesh!

Jesus refuses to allow the lack of faith of His disciples to send the crowd away. He tells them, commands them "You feed them!"

The Orthodox Church teaches that Jesus Christ is more than a great teacher, more than a good man. The Church teaches that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh; born of a Virgin, and come to save the world! You are part of that vision for humanity!

On this Sunday of Zacchaeus we start our preparation for Great Lent. And our first labor is to examine our motives. So, what motivates your faith?

On this leavetaking of the Feast of the Transfiguration, Jesus heals a boy His disciples could not heal. It is amazing how He refers to the people of His day as "a wicked and perverse generation." Jesus could be describing our own day as well.

What happens when life delivers a blow we were not prepared for? Michael shares the story of how one person reacted and what we can learn from it.

Michael describes his recent experience, while recovering from a concussion, of viewing key scenes from the Academy Award winning movie Good Will Hunting through an Orthodox Christian lens. Using these scenes and their circumstances as illustrations, he discusses understanding sin as sickness, condemning self-judgment and judgment in general, the fine line between our sense of personal accountability and self forgiveness, and both God’s love for us and our love for each other as it should be.

Financial pressures in our Orthodox Churches are very real and often cause great worry and anxiety. As a result, we, both clergy and laity, can lose our focus and get our priorities out of order. Using the terms “Prophet” and “Profit” to symbolize two different mentalities (not suggesting Churches are trying to make a profit in the conventional sense) join Michael as he discusses what our priorities should be and what results proper focus on them would yield.

In conjunction with the Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, Michael shares some thoughts about what we can teach our young people about the Cross and our personal transformation; the Cross and Understanding Christ as our doctor rather than our lawyer; and the Cross and the Commandments.

How do we understand God’s grace and providence in the direction of our lives? Is there such a thing as chance and coincidence, or is it simply our lack of spiritual perception that makes it seem so? Join Michael as he thoroughly explores this topic and shares personal examples, thoughts and the insights that apply to all of us.

Dealing with the negative voice in your head that holds you back, causes doubt and anxiety, and robs you of your peace and joy.

Join Michael as he explores the webs and patterns of our life, and uses poem, story, myth, metaphor, and examples from his own life to show how we can recognize God and continuity within our myriad choices, and know His peace.

Bondage to sin and wrong behavior and struggling with things we can’t seem to overcome plague us all to lesser or greater degrees. Join Michael as he talks about three typical forms of bondage that grip us and what we need to do to overcome them.

Join Michael as he talks about how to capture and protect our mind from the world of false images we live in, and how doing so also supports our mental, physical and spiritual health.

Many of us have read the book Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives by Elder Thaddeus which is packed with holy wisdom. However, our thoughts gives rise to our actions, and our actions in turn reflect our thoughts. We are held to account by God for both what we think and what we do. Join Michael as he discusses the relationship to thoughts and actions, how we often entertain and get seduced by the wrong thoughts, and can make philosophy, psychology, and even theology and excuse to not have the right thoughts or take the right actions.

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 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 explores the subtly of idolatry and the little gods that lurk behind our idols that lead us slowly down a dangerous spiritual path.

Inner darkness. We all have it whether we admit or not. How do overcome it? How do we find our way to Christ the Light and master our inner darkness? Join Michael as he addresses these questions in-depth and shows we can find our way to the Light no matter what darkness we are in.

Join Michael as he provides an in-depth discussion of the many spiritual aspects of patience that are critical to our salvation and the salvation of others, and how lacking this virtue is more spiritually harmful than we may realize.

Join Michael as he discusses how we should understand God’s authority versus secular notions of authority, and why rejecting and tearing down authority does not result in liberation and freedom but rather the opposite.

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 discusses how we should see and experience ourselves and others as living icons of Christ, and how we achieve this through the difficult task unknowing ourselves.

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 as he discusses the deep theological truths of simple hospitality and how it directly relates to our salvation.

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 what well-being and non-being really mean, and how we often do things we think are beneficial but really are not in our best interest and lead us father from God rather than towards Him.

Join Michael as he uses the symbolism of the North Star to take a deep dive into the true nature of repentance and why we often misunderstand it to our detriment.

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 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.

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

Fr. Seraphim Aldea concludes his series on fasting.

The Feast of Theophany, when God the Trinity reveals Himself to us.

Don't look for the easy way out of pain. Do not deny the reality of your doubts, your struggles and your sins. Be who-you-are before Christ, so that He may save the truth of who-you-are.

There is no fall too deep for Christ's love for us. Never lose hope, my brothers and my sisters.

'All is well, but I feel dry. Where there was life, I now have only the memory of it.' We tend to formalise our spiritual life, but Life is not in formalities: Life is in the Spirit—We need to reset our spiritual life to factory settings, jumping out of our comfort zones into a new, living faith.

We are broken and our prayer reflects that brokenness. But we are called to be one, to be simple with God's simplicity. As our prayer grows, we grow as well. As we spiritually heal and let go of our complexities and divisivenesses (which are results of our fallen nature), our prayer slowly lets go of its brokenness and becomes what it is supposed to be: a prayer beyond words, a silent prayer that is an act of being.

The story of a miracle: how God healed me and then poured a mountain of grace over us was recorded by Fr Seraphim (Aldea) at Mull Monastery (The Orthodox Monastery of All Celtic Saints), on the Isle of Mull.

The sign of a true Christian

"Truly I say to you, I do not know you."

Fr. Seraphim encourages viewers to take time away before resetting their lives.

How to Fight Evil from our Hearts in a World of Lies and Confusion (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

Fasting for God Opens Our Spiritual Sight (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

The Voices You Listen to Shape Your Life (w/ Fr. Seraphim Aldea)

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