Repentance is a matter of saying, that’s not me, that’s not who I am—even while all I can see is my failure and darkness. This is because who I am, who I am becoming, is hidden in Christ. When I turn my attention to my failure and darkness, all seems to become failure and darkness because guilt makes me want to hide from God, driving me back to sin. In turning to Christ (rather than hiding behind the fig leaves of the knowledge of good and evil–the guilt and sin dynamic), the Light cleanses me from all darkness. We only turn to sin when we turn from the Light, and it is only in turning to the Light that we start to experience real victory over sin.

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.

Last night I attended a prayer service in the street in front of the Coptic Orthodox Church that was burned down early Monday morning. Although some evidence points toward arson, arson has not been proven and no motive has yet been identified. However, there has been a recent spike in violence against churches (vandalism, arson and threats), some sources report over 200 significant incidents in Canada since June. Many of us may be wondering what we should do. Well, I think we should do what our Coptic Orthodox brothers and sisters are doing. We should pray and love.

The Son of God became the Son of Man and was "made sin" according to the Scriptures. What should we understand about this way of speaking of Jesus?

This week the guys talk about the Netflix Original series Bojack Horseman. They discuss character formation, longing for transcendence, and how seeking meaning exclusively within the immanent is ultimately dissatisfying, dismaying, and even dangerous. They close with their Top 5 bleak comedies.

The girls take on Delia Owens’ novel, Where the Crawdads Sing. They discuss how love is central to the human experience, the duality of nature, and whether the heart is affected by concealing sin. They close with their Top 5 Outcasts.

Are you keeping your eyes on Jesus when the stormy seas of life stir up the fear of death?

People try to serve two masters because they lack the spiritual clarity to see that the good things of the creation are not God’s equals or rivals, but blessings to be offered back to Him for the salvation of the world.

As much as we do not like to acknowledge it, Christ’s Kingdom is not about giving us religion or anything else on our own terms. He calls us to offer Him “the fruits [of our lives] in their seasons.”

The love to which Christ calls us is not merely an emotion, but a true offering of ourselves for the sake of someone else. It is a self-less offering in which we put the needs and interests our neighbors before our own. It is a personal offering that builds communion with other people and unites us together as those who share a common life. Of course, the basis of such love is the great Self-Offering of Christ, Who enables us all to share in His eternal life as members together of His Body, the Church, as a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Like the saints we remember today, let us turn away from such distractions and instead orient ourselves toward the blessedness of a Kingdom that remains not of this world. Let us offer all our blessings back to Him with gratitude, for that is the only way to live as those who know that the good things of this life are not ends in themselves, but points of entrance to eternal life.

The darkness roots deeply within us all, both personally and collectively, and nothing but the brilliant glory of the Lord can overcome it. Whether we know it or not, we inevitably sink like stones into the abyss whenever we make anything or anyone else the foundation of our lives.

Let us not despair even when the darkness threatens to overwhelm us, but instead mindfully open our hearts to the light of Christ as we trust that He will minister to us at our point of greatest need and make us participants in His salvation.

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” These words from the brokenhearted father in today’s gospel lesson resonate with all of us who are honest about what the deep challenges of our lives reveal about our spiritual state.

It is easy to overlook how often the Lord used money and possessions to convey a spiritual message. Perhaps that is because almost everyone struggles with being overly attached to material things, for they can meet our basic physical needs and provide comfort and a sense of security. Due to our self-centered desires, however, they so easily become false gods as we make them the measure of our lives. As Christ taught, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also….You cannot serve both God and mammon.” (Matt. 6: 21, 24)

If you are like me, there are times when you become worried or upset over matters of very little importance. It often does not take much to punch our buttons because we base our sense of self and wellbeing, as well as our hopes for the future, on illusions that cannot fulfill them. Due to our darkened spiritual vision, we do not see ourselves, our relationships with other people, or where we stand before the Lord very clearly. When the inevitable challenges of life cause us to catch even a small glimpse of these uncomfortable truths, we usually do not like it and can easily start to sink into the churning sea of our passions.

Phil. 2:5-11, Luke 10: 38-42, Luke 11: 27-28 appear to be odd readings for the celebration of Holy Mary. Let’s consider, with the help of Isaiah 45 and St. John Chrysostom why they are so very “meet and right” in remembering the humble one who has been made “more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious than the seraphim.”

This week we consider the reading from Acts 16 for the sixth Sunday of Easter, reading it in the light of Psalm 1. These readings discloses different mindsets, some to caution us, some to be our models, as we follow Christ on the Way.

On this first Sunday after Pentecost, we clarify and amplify the readings from Matthew and Hebrews by looking to the story of Solomonia and her seven brave sons (2 Maccabees 7). This woman, known in the early Church as a prophetess, spoke clearly of God’s creating and resurrecting power, and so inspires us, in our challenges today, to follow Christ to glory.

Remembering the apostles, we consider Jesus’ words from Matt 9:13 concerning God’s mercy, and the Resurrection hymns in the fourth tone, in the light of 1 Cor 1:26-31, Hosea 6:6-7, Genesis 3:1-5, and Wisdom 2:23-24.

We think about the profundity of this well-known hymn that focusses upon the Incarnation, looking to passages in Isaiah and Daniel, as well as the New Testament.

This coming Sunday, we read Hebrews 9:11-14, which speaks about how Jesus our Lord has cleansed our consciences. We understand these verses with the help of St. John Chrysostom, Leviticus 16, and Jeremiah 31:33.

The apostle’s appeal for unity is beautifully exemplified in the life of Joseph, and poignantly pictured in the Psalm about oil on Aaron’s beard. May God’s appeal, pattern, and picture help us to unity in this time of disagreement. (Ephesians 4:1-6, Genesis 37-50, Psalm 132/3)

We look to John’s intriguing vision of the Temple and the two witnesses in Revelation 11:1-14, aided by the visions of two earlier prophets in Ezekiel 40 and Zechariah 4. John’s images help us to understand that the bitter-sweet scroll pertains to us, and our witness in a God-defying world, as we follow the slaughtered-standing Lamb wherever He goes.

This week we revel in the colors, sounds, and wonder of Old Testament Canticle 8 (Dan 3:57-88 LXX). In this exuberant song of praise, we bring the whole cosmos before God, and enter into the praise that flows in different ways from everything that He has created.

In this episode we read Esther 3:13a-g, 5:1-13 LXX, and 8:12a-I, considering the royal decrees of the king, the dramatic scene where Esther enters his presence without invitation, and the misinformation about the Jewish people which he finally rejects. We are helped in seeing the significance of these fascinating scenes by recourse to Psalm 85/6, Phil 2:5-11, and 1 Timothy 2:1-2

"The Blessing of the Loaves," from Feasts of Christ and the Theotokos and Miracles of the Lord by Spiritual Fragrance Publishing (2012)

"The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter," from Feasts of Christ and the Theotokos and Miracles of the Lord by Spiritual Fragrance Publishing (2012)

"The Raising of Lazarus," from Feasts of Christ and the Theotokos and Miracles of the Lord by Spiritual Fragrance Publishing (2012)

"Saint Basil the Great," by Vasilia Tussing, age 11, winner of the 10-year anniversary children's story competition.

73. Book 1: "The Passing of Elijah" from The Bible for Young People by Zoe Kanavas (Narthex Press, 2005) (11.32 mins) Book 2: : Saint Innocent of Alaska, Apostle and Missionary by Sarah Elizabeth Cowie (Conciliar Press, 2005) chapter 13 (10.52 mins)

"The Raising of Lazarus" from The Bible for Young People by Zoe Kanavas (Narthex Press, 2005)

Rev. Fr. Nick Tambakis discusses the relationship between sin and bodily disease. He then explains how the Church is a hospital and confession is therapy.

Fr. Ted laments the fact that the traditions of the Church are not passed down to the next generation with enough frequency.

Fr. Ted reminds us that the best thing we can do to help the youth is to be an example.

Fr. Ted reminds us that nothing we have in this life is truly ours.

Fr. Ted compares ascending St. John's ladder to traveling from earth up into space.

The whole point of the Christian life is to stay on course. Sin is deviating from that course.

Parents should be the first teachers of the Faith to their children.

Fr. Ted explains why we bless the waters on Theophany.

Fr. Ted encourages us to allow the story of the healing of the paralytic to move us closer into relationship with God and one another as we live in the light of the resurrection of Christ!

Fr. Ted gave a presentation at the Romanian Orthodox Youth Assoc. (ROYA) North American Conference held in Beaverton, Ontario, Canada from October 5-7, 2017. In his talk, Fr. Ted explores the current political landscape and how it affects Orthodox youth who attend secular schools where Christianity is subtly oppressed by often ultra-liberal agendas.

While the sins of Judas and Peter were the same, Judas chose to wallow in that sin and eventually kill himself.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos speaks about the Gospel reading on the Paralytic Man.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos preaches on Jesus feeding five thousand people with five loaves and two fish.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos invites us to consider the reality of our sin and our need for repentance.

How do I deal with toxic shame that seems to close off the avenue back to God. Read the transcript HERE.

The fathers tell us it is important to know ourselves, but how many of us can really say that we do? Read the transcript HERE.

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.