The Lord used the story of the Good Samaritan to show us who we must become if we are truly uniting ourselves to Him in faith. The more we share in His life, the more we will overcome the spiritual blindness that so easily tempts us to justify ourselves in thinking that any person or group is somehow not worthy of our care and compassion.

The devotion of the Myrrh-Bearers, Joseph and, Nicodemus shows us what true faith looks like, and we will never acquire it by looking for ways to fit God comfortably into our lives in order to help us achieve our goals in and for this world, regardless of how noble we think they are.

Most people today surely do not think of the weeks before Christmas as a time of preparation for being loosed from bondage to the corrupting forces of sin and death. More commonly, we use this time of year to strengthen our addiction to the love of money, possessions, food, drink, and other worldly pleasures.

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.

One of the great challenges that many of us face is learning to see that being an Orthodox Christians may not be reduced to confessing certain beliefs about God, no matter how true those beliefs are. Our faith may not be reduced to conscientious participation in the worship of the Church or keeping our own rule of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, or other spiritual disciplines. Our faith may not be reduced to following a code of moral behavior or distinguishing clearly between actions that are good or evil. These endeavors are all virtuous in and of themselves and we must not neglect or diminish them in any way, but our calling is much higher, for it is nothing less than to embody the mercy of God from the very depths of our being.

Fr. John Parker analyzes the impact of love in two Super Bowl commercials, and exhorts us to comprehend the impact they have on our lives as Orthodox Christians.

Professor Humphrey here tackles the difficult passage of Romans 10:1-10, showing that it echoes Deuteronomy 30. Here we see the mistake of interpreting the religion of Israel as a cold and legalistic religion of laws, and are called to generosity of spirit in praying for all who do not know Christ, including the Jewish people, whom St. Paul declares to be “beloved for the sake of their forefathers.”

Dr. Edith M. Humphrey returns after nearly a year to resume her blog and podcast on how the Old Testament illumines our reading of the New Testament and our worship. This week we consider the resurrectional hymns in the first tone (used the second Sunday after Pentecost), in the light of the OT, especially the prophet Hosea.

Fr. Ted expresses his frustration with Orthodox Christians who only show up to church on Pascha.

This week, Fr. Ted addresses the question of how a loving God could also judge us.

Fr. Ted speaks about the feast of Theophany. He explains that in both Nativity and Theophany, God reveals Himself to man.

Fr. Ted explains how the gospel of love is lived out in our lives today and how it was lived out in the past.

Fr. Ted reflects upon the real meaning of love as demonstrated in the life of Jesus.

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

We finish this Lenten series discussing the virtues of patience, love, and not judging our brother. Again, the Orthodox axiom of working out the virtues in the body is true, and we learn that patience is not merely a passive state, but also requires spiritual/bodily effort to restrain evil thoughts/actions, choosing to perform God's will instead. Love for God, neighbor, enemies and the whole of creation is our aim, cultivated with our growing awareness of God's pure and captivating eros coming down from heaven. Engulfed in this love we lose interest in the world and adopt the humble mind of Christ, whose words on the Cross, "forgive them for they know not what they do," are to become our own towards all men.

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.

Loving our family as Christ loves our family gives us a tangible way to respond to hatred with love, to intolerance with compassion, to despair with hope, and to rashness and instability with steadfastness and self-control.

In response to Rob Bell's controversial book Love Wins, Steve ventures into the world of video and gives a short summary of the difference between the mainstream Protestant view of salvation and an Orthodox view. Listen to the short audio introduction below, then watch the video.

Steve discusses his death at birth, his life-long desire to be old, his "death wish," and what it means to "live is Christ and to die is gain."

Dn. Theodore, the Director of Community of St. John the Compassionate Mission, discusses a man at the mission who wanted to love God but felt as though he just couldn't love back anymore.

Paul shares about his experiences at the mission with children of all backgrounds and from all walks of life. He reflects on a story that changed his perspective of world cultures, and how that pertains to our Orthodox way of life.

Listen to excerpts from this past Sunday's bulletin at St. John the Compassionate Mission, serving the most vulnerable in Toronto.

Listen to three short reflections about interactions at St. John the Compassionate Mission, reminding us that all lives are worth living.

Writings from Fr. Nicolaie for the Sunday before the Nativity.

Stories from St. John the Compassionate Mission written by Brother Luke.

More stories from volunteers at the mission.

Louie Zong, Worthikids, and Brian David Gilbert formed a supergroup making Steely Dan-inspired music and are playing L.A. next month!? #

Fr. Apostolos speaks from the Gospel of St. John, chapter 3, "For God so loved the world...," exhorting us that "love alone is the surety of our doctrinal purity."

Fr. Apostolos encourages us to embrace Christ's sacrificial offering for us as graceful recipients of the salvation that He alone can bring.

Fr. Apostolos talks about the importance of the Cross.

Fr. Apostolos Hill shares a homily about love based on the Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians 13.

Fr. Apostolos Hill speaks about the Hymn of Kassiani's retelling of the sinful woman who wept her tears of repentance over the feet of Christ and of Jesus' retort to Simon, "He who is forgiven little, loves little...." He also tells about the life and love of St. Mary of Egypt.

On the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt, Fr. Apostolos Hill shares on the Prophet Micah's closing comment on God throwing our sins into the depths of the ocean. As St. Mary's life indicates, we cannot out-sin the measureless mercy of God's love.

In this 2nd episode, Fr. Maxym addresses the question about love in the spiritual life.

Sermon on the Feast of the Nativity of Christ (Galatians 4:4-7; Matthew 2:1-12)

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Gifts are given to each one of us by God for the purpose of building up the body of Christ and being salt and light in the world. Fr Tom shows us how both of today's scripture readings clarify our purpose as individual members of the Church.

One of the most challenging commands of the teachings of Christ is to love our enemies. Fr Thomas explains what it looks like and why it's so important.

"God is Love" has become one of the most abused verses of Scripture. It's used today to justify every sin and excuse every condition. Fr Thomas urges us to look at the entirety of the Gospel message to truly understand the implications of being a creature of God Who is Love.

On the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers, we hear of the courage and love demonstrated by the men and women who cared for the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fr Thomas reminds us that this is also a powerful reminder that we must never succumb to the disrespectful practice of cremation because we deeply care for the body that God created and will raise from the dead.

At the incredible encounter of the Samaritan Woman with Jesus as the well, Fr Thomas teaches us that the Lord models how to speak the truth in love.

Fr. Gregory speaks on Luke 6:31-36.

In our lives, crucial choices have to be made and upon these choices our eternal destiny depends.

Love is the basis of the Law. In fact loving God is what obedience to the Law is about, and to those struggling to live under the Old Covenant, it still is.