Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from July 28, 2024.

Fr. John Whiteford's sermon from October 13, 2024.

We’ve all heard about helicopter parents. I’m more of a lawnmower parent. I want to make straight the paths before my kids. I do not want to see them hurt. And of course, that’s natural– no parent wants to see their child injured– but when I make the path so straight and the field so even that they do not seem to engage the “struggle” then I’ve gone too far. How do we teach our children to embrace the struggles of life, to see the beauty and the reward in it?

Parenting is a sacred and daunting task at every stage of their development but parenting teenagers has its own set of challenges and its own joys as well. When do when the time is right to let them start “adulting” and how does our prayer life support us as we venture into new territory?

Trust is a foundational building block of any relartionship. Without it there simply is no way to have anything more than some superficial connection. But trust requires risk. And we humans avoid risk most of the time. Jesus challenges us to risk trusting Him.

We have all heard the Golden Rule, but there is so much more to this passage and it has everything to do with a very serious challenge to the status quo of our lives. After all, even sinners love those who love them!

St. Paul tells the Colossians the greatest danger to their spiritual lives is Idolatry. But what is Idolatry? Turns out it is much deeper than an idol!

On this Father's Day we hear how important it is to provide our children with a good example of fatherhood so that they can call God, Father!

In the Academy Award-nominated film Food Inc, filmmaker Robert Kenner reveals how the varied choice of items we see on the shelves of supermarkets is actually a false presumption. Instead, that seemingly endless variety is actually controlled by just a handful of companies. Today I’m going to reveal how the huge diversity we perceive in […]

The post How 16 Companies are Dominating the World’s Google Search Results appeared first on ViperChill.

Michael discusses why understanding the personal nature of God and experiencing God’s presence is so important and what it means to us.

Michael shares two different experiences from his own life when desiring a word from God.

Michael describes an Orthodox understanding of why we should care for the environment, and what the story of Cain and Abel teaches us about this important issue.

Michael discusses flaws in the debate of “God or Science” and shows why “God and science” is a more appropriate, and how science can serve as a sacramental means to deepen our faith.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48 to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. But how is this possible when we know we are sinners? Did He really mean this? And if so, what exactly did He mean? Join Michael as he discusses what it means to be perfect from an Orthodox Christian point of view and shares a story that illustrates and addresses the difference between being perfect and perfectionism and why “good enough” is actually okay.

How should we fast as Orthodox Christians? Is there really a right and wrong way? What is the real intent and purpose of fasting? Join Michael as he discusses the deeper meaning of fasting and compares the various ways people fast, how we often misunderstand fasting, and how it relates to our awareness of God’s presence in our lives.

Join Michael as he uses science and examples in everyday life to discuss order and disorder, why it is important to understand what they mean spiritually, and how we must be deliberate and committed in our choices to be holy and grow in Christ.

Life’s often not fair and we all suffer from illness and affliction at times that are not of our own making. It is then we are often confronted with a choice – to continue to want to be with God even though we don’t understand why certain things are happening to us; or to let the seeming unfairness of our circumstance drive us away from Him. Join Michael as he uses a whimsical episode of the Brady Bunch to illustrate and discuss this profound truth we all experience.

Sometimes our lives are in such chaos and darkness it is hard to believe God is in control and is loving us and caring for us. Join Michael as he dramatically recounts the story of the Gadarene Demoniac told in Mark 5:1-20, unlikely though it would seem, to demonstrate God’s providence in our lives.

Have you ever felt like you were wrestling or struggling with God, like your life was out of control, the future was unknown or something to be feared, and you were at a loss about what to do? Your prayers seem unanswered and God seems silent. Join Michael as he recounts the story of Jacob and shows how Jacob’s story and his struggle with God is our story.

Retaining the hope of a child is not easy, especially in today’s coronavirus pandemic environment. Yet this is what Christ want us to do according to the Gospel. Using thoughts from Orthodox teacher and professor Vigen Guroian’s chapter on childhood from his book The Orthodox Reality: Culture, Theology, and Ethics in the Modern World, Michael explores this topic in depth, and explains how by remembering that Christ is the eternal child of God can rekindle our sense of hope during this difficult time.

In celebration of Mother’s Day, join Michael as he explores the language of the Genesis creation stories and what they teach us about the value of women and the feminine and motherly nature of God. He then reflects on the Theotokos and how her life and Christ’s demonstrate the value of women established in Genesis, and how they restore women to the place God intended for them. This podcast is based on a Zoom class Michael gave to a Church community and also includes responses from the question and answer period of the class.

Join Michael as he tells the story of a family who all contracted the virus, what they suffered, what medical experts and articles are saying about COVID-19 and PTSD, and how we can understand this spiritually.

Join Michael as he discusses what we should do when we feel like God is absent from our lives, and how we can overcome the tyranny of our negative thoughts and feelings that create this false sense of separation.

Join Michael as he discusses the challenge of living our Orthodox faith and Holy Tradition fully and without compromise, and witnessing effectively and lovingly to others outside of the faith. Listen as he explains how easy it is to fall into the trap of putting God in neat little box in our minds and hearts how this is detrimental to ourselves and others.

Join Michael as he discusses why God’s wrath is an expression of His love, what hinders us from understanding and accepting this, and why it is debilitating when it is intended to be transformative.

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.

Join Michael for a discussion on how to avoid being paralyzed with guilt and shame over our worst failures, and experience God at work within them.

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 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 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 Aldea exhorts his listeners to fight for faith in the living God during this challenging time.

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

After we sin, our hearts freeze. For a while, we stay away from God on purpose. We need time to heal, we need some sort of ritual of cleansing, some manner in which to make ourselves (in our own eyes) acceptable again to God. But the way back to prayer must begin as soon as possible, if possible even during the act of sin itself. The sooner we turn ourselves back to face Christ's Light, the sooner we shall drag ourselves out of the depth of our fall. Remind yourself of those who were waiting in the darkness of hell for Christ's Descent - ask for their desperate desire to be forgiven, pray for their unceasing hope that Light WILL one day find them and bring them back to Life out of the death of their hell. For those who put their trust in Christ, there is always Hope, there is always Love, there is always a way back to repentance and Life.

Why do we forget all the beautiful things God teaches us in our life? How come we cannot hold on and remember all the advice God speaks to our hearts, either in prayer or through the people and circumstances of our lives?

Every Lent is an opportunity to START ANEW, to shine in Christ, to do the things we only think about doing the rest of the year. We can go deeper in our faith, we can create secret 'signs of love and faith' with Christ, we can re-shape the courses of our thoughts and emotions so they once again flow in the direction God intended them to flow when He created us.

The is NO LIFE in despondency and abandonment. We must learn to fight for love, fight for joy, and this LOVE will teach us about God.

Some people thrive and others collapse fought by the same temptations, in the same context, surrounded by the same people. St Paisius the Agiorite (St Paisius of the Holy Mountain) and St John of the Ladder teach us that a joyful disposition of the heart and the determination to see goodness in everyone can make the difference between spiritual life and death. We need to train our thoughts to always 'translate' the situations we face into good examples, into sources of strength, virtue and beauty. Depending on whether we decode this world through a lens of love or one of condemnation, the same temptations can feed the Divine Image in us or the nothingness in us.

My will or God's will? The will of the world and that of our families have become components of our own will. To discern and follow the will of God, we must free ourselves from the dominion of these three: the will of the world, the will of our immediate circle of family and friends, and our personal will. The best teacher for this is the wonderful St John of the Ladder (of Sinai).

Why is God so interested in what we do in the bedroom? Why is the Church so keen that we should learn to control our bodies and their passions? Why can't we just focus on the spiritual side of life and live as spiritual beings?

The world attaches no value to our bodies and it often feels as if the Church shares the same vision: the body is evil, worthless, a sort of dark gate through which demons, passions and sins enter our being. But is this the revealed truth and is this really what the Church confesses? We need to escape this confusion, we need to rediscover the worth of our bodies before we start preparing our fight against the passions which control them. If we do not know the value of our bodies, how are we expected to fight for them?

Fr. Seraphim Aldea answers the question "If God is perfect, why did He create imperfection?", by reminding us of His love for His creation.

Fr. Seraphim Aldea reminds us to keep ourselves grounded in humility, so we may fight pride and hypocrisy, and prevent them from staining our spiritual struggle before the Lord. When you are at the beginning of your spiritual life, you need to prioritize your ascetical works, because they will eventually help you open up to receive God's Grace.

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.

It is easy to ask for God's Word, but it is difficult to listen and accept His answer. That is because His answer reveals His Divine will and once we know that, we need to silence our own will and follow Him.

Fr. Seraphim gives a short update.

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

Why are we so worried about the things happening in the world when the Lord told us not to be?