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.

Acknowledging the ugliness in our heart is like taking out the garbage. When we pretend it’s not there, it doesn’t go away. It just festers. But when we confess our sin by acknowledging before God the ugliness of our heart, a ray of light shines there and we take a step toward healing.

Just about any discipline that has to do with the body, if you really think that discipline is important, is mostly just a matter of making yourself do it; but forgiveness is not merely a bodily matter. Forgiveness is a matter of the soul, of the heart. Forgiveness is not so easy. On its most basic level, forgiveness means that you will not seek revenge. It means that you are letting go of your right to get even. When you forgive someone, you stop punishing them in your mind. It means that you stop rehearsing in your mind how much they hurt you.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the study of 1 Thessalonians.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of Chapter 1 of St. Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians.

Fr. Stephen De Young takes us through the second chapter of St. Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians.

Fr. Stephen De Young discusses St. Paul's First Epistles to the Thessalonians, Chapter 3.

Fr. Stephen De Young discusses 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12.

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of 1 Thessalonians.

Fr. Stephen De Young begins the discussion of St. Paul's Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (1:1-2:4).

Fr. Stephen De Young concludes the discussion of 2 Thessalonians (2:5 to 3:18).

In our Troparia for Nativity, we sing "Your Nativity, O Christ our God, has shone to the world the Light of wisdom! For by it, those who worshipped the stars, were taught by a star to adore You, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know You, the Orient from on High. O Lord, glory to You!" In today's episode, Fr. Tom reflects on these terms for Christ.

What is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ as described in the Book of Revelation? Fr. Tom Hopko explores this with us in his next episode of The Names of Jesus.

Holy Scripture tells us there is "One Mediator between God and men" (I Timothy 2:5). Fr. Tom Hopko teaches on Christ as our Mediator and Intercessor.

Steven and Christian discuss being exposed to darkness through art and whether or not there is merit in pressing through things that are difficult to watch. They deal with themes of light and dark, weaker brothers and stronger brothers, and why neither of them could make it past (or in Christian’s case through) the first episode of the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad. As always, the guys end with a top 5 list.

Are we ascending in holiness with Christ through the pains and challenges of this world?

Like the Saints, our path to holiness will be through the daily struggle to be faithful in small ways that few will notice or celebrate.

Fr. Philip calls us to actively engage in the journey towards the Kingdom of God through the Dormition Fast.

How quickly are we to forgive those who have wronged us in some way?

Jesus Christ gives us back our true identities, making us into faithful witnesses of His redeeming work.

Are you prepared to enter the Kingdom of God? If not, the Church calls us to enter through forgiveness into the journey of repentance of Great Lent.

Entering the final week of Lent, we are reminded once again of our own weakness and failings and our needs for the mercy of God.

We are called to bear witness of the resurrected Lord, along with St. Thomas, who sought to know Christ through a personal experience with Him.

Being set free from those things which possess us is just the beginning of the process of salvation.

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

Our favorite sins drive us into the isolation of the wilderness, away from the healing power of Jesus. Once healed, the best witness to the transforming power of Christ is the personal story of those set free.

Fr. Philip LeMasters calls us to live in a life of genuine forgiveness that is empowered by the divine energy of God.

Fr. Philip LeMasters teaches us how to gain the spiritual clarity that we need to bear good fruit.

Fr. Philip LeMasters describes the way in which we can be blind to Jesus, the Messiah, because he is not what we are looking for.

Fr. Philip LeMasters reminds us to keep our attention on Christ.

In today’s gospel lesson, there were people so used to focusing on their daily routines and worldly responsibilities that they had lost the ability to recognize something new and joyful. One owned real estate, another had animals, and a third was married. Even though these are commonplace conditions, they used them to justify their refusal to accept the invitation to the great party. No one forced them to do so; instead, they excused themselves. As a result, the master commanded his servant to “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.” Because there was still room, the master ordered him to go out even further to “the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”

Let us get over our pride and become living epiphanies of the salvation of the One Who was baptized by St. John the Forerunner in the Jordan.

As we begin our Lenten journey, we remember today how Adam and Eve stripped themselves naked of the divine glory and were cast out of Paradise into a world enslaved by death. During Great Lent, we follow the path that leads back to Paradise.

Lenten practices are not instruments of punishment or legalism, but blessed tools for becoming more fully our true selves as living icons of God.

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” The father of the young man in today’s gospel lesson cried out these words with tears in response to the Lord’s statement that “all things are possible to him who believes.” The father in this passage provides a good example of how we should respond to the spiritual challenges posed by our current public health crisis.

St. Photini’s encounter with the Lord was truly transformative. He did not merely give her ideas about religion. He gave her the “Living Water” of the Holy Spirit which made her a participant in eternal life by grace.

The man in our gospel reading whose sight the Lord restored had been blind from birth, having known only darkness throughout his life. He symbolizes us all, for until the light of the Savior’s resurrection, humanity had wandered in spiritual blindness and captivity.

At Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit as a sign of the restoration of human persons, both individually and collectively, in the divine image and likeness.

It may seem strange that Orthodox Christianity gives so much attention to martyrs and saints. To speak of those who die for their faith is to recall instances of murder. Why would a religion give so much attention to such an unpleasant subject?

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.

Fr. Philip LeMasters reminds us that our words reveal the state of our souls.

As we celebrate the Exaltation of the Cross, let us examine ourselves to see if our lives appear foolish and scandalous by the standards of the world because of our faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

Instead of obsessing over how we measure up, we should simply focus all our energies on finding healing for our passions as we reorient our disordered desires for fulfillment in God. If we persist in doing so and call out for the Lord’s mercy whenever we stumble and fall, we will come to know the joy of those liberated from the tomb, clothed in the divine glory, and finally in our right minds.

As we prepare to receive the Lord in faith at Christmas, we must use our freedom to follow St. Paul’s instruction in today’s epistle reading: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

Matthew’s description of the family tree prepares us for the kind of Savior we encounter in Jesus Christ. It does not hide that His ancestors sinned greatly, for He came to heal those who had corrupted and weakened themselves by their own disobedience. His family line even included Gentiles, foreshadowing that He would make all with faith in Him heirs to the promise to Abraham. That being the case, the fact that we are sinners does not make it impossible or pointless for us to become the Savior’s living temples. He came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Mark 2:17). In the remaining days before Christmas, we must simply turn away from evil as we confess our sins and reorient our lives to the Savior, trusting that His healing will extend even to us.

During Great Lent, we will follow the path that leads back to Paradise.

Christ has ascended. Let us go up together with Him as we find liberation from slavery to our passions and share more fully in the salvation that He has brought to the world.

Let us live as those who have tasted the living water of the Holy Spirit and know that nothing can truly satisfy us—in this life or in that which is to come—other than uniting ourselves to Christ in holiness.

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.

If we have received the Lord’s mercy, we must extend that mercy to our neighbors, especially those we are inclined to hate, condemn, or otherwise disregard.