Fr. Adrian and Chaplain Sarah talk about the importance of prayer in the life of an Orthodox Chaplain, and how they use prayer as a spiritual intervention in their ministries.

'God loves a cheerful giver.' We might take that as an ironic thing to say, especially since we usually don't feel like giving -- especially our money. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick opens up what this 'cheerfulness' is about and Who it comes from and why.

Fr. John notes the differences between problems and crosses to bear.

Fr. John Oliver reminds us that we work out our salvation in the individual particulars of our own lives.

Fr. Joseph joins Sir Paul McCartney, Alvin Chipmunk, José Feliciano and other Wailers in a journey down memory lane -- eschewing the worldly sounds of the season for some really bad (ghostly) percussion moments. Are you prepared?

In this episode, Fr. Anthony uses the image of the pattern (as found in Genesis, Isaiah, the Gospel of St. Matthew, and the Amber series of Roger Zelazny) to help explain our calling to bring the Logic of the Center to the chaos of the edges. Enjoy the show!

GGWB gave its time in this episode over to its sponsor: Anaxios Gifts! From the Tin-Foil Skufia to a book of feel-good homilies to the "Beards of Love" charity, Anaxios has it all! Tired of acrimonious debates about patriarchal show downs? So were we, so we went double-dog silly on this one. Operators are standing by; enjoy the show!

Elissa recounts her week at Camp St. Sava, the official Orthodox summer camp of the Serbian Orthodox Church's Western American Diocese.

Elissa expresses how important it is to be honest and humble when teaching children, freely showing our imperfections.

A catechumen once asked what he could do to get victory over bad dreams: especially lustful dreams that roused his passions and often led him into temptation. I told him that this is one of those aspects of life in a fallen body that must be resisted and endured. One of the ways Satan seeks to weary and wear out the saints (or those who strive to be holy) is through the constant going astray of our flesh. Our job is to resist and to return our attention to God and to whatever is good, true and beautiful. When we turn our attention to Jesus, then Jesus fights our battles. One of the desert fathers said that trying to confront our own wicked thoughts is like trying to drive off wild dogs by throwing biscuits at them. We end up feeding the very thing we are trying to drive away. But if we turn our attention to Jesus, to the One who saves, to the One who made us and loves us and calls us to Himself, then the barking of the dogs fades away into the background. Then Christ Himself fights our battles, and we return to our natural place as worshipers of God, as those whose minds and hearts are attending to the one thing needful.

Even as we strive to please God by disciplining ourselves and obeying His commands, we know that God loves us. We know that God will accept our striving for righteousness, even if we don’t do it very well, even if we fail. God is able to fix our mistakes. Therefore, like children striving to please a parent whom we know loves us completely, we offer what we have, what we can do, in a carefree way, knowing that 100% will never be enough to succeed completely all of the time, but it is enough to please God.

Fr. Michael Gillis answers the question of “how to overcome thoughts of pride in our hearts that inevitably come after labouring on good works for our families and people around us.”

In this next to last episode in the Names of Jesus series, Fr. Tom takes us to Hebrews 12 where the RSV tells us that Jesus is the "Pioneer and Perfector" of our Faith.

The Lord’s genealogy in St. Matthew’s gospel traces the Savior’s human ancestry back through many generations to Abraham. The story of the ancestors of Christ, who helped to prepare the way across the centuries for the incarnation of the God-Man, certainly does not read like a Facebook posting. The Old Testament presents them realistically as unlikely members of His family tree.

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 early nineteenth-century romantics pioneered a new way of seeking personal transformation. Following a century in which deism desecrated the world, separating heaven and earth, they wanted to re-enchant the West. But by ignoring traditional Christianity and looking instead to the "God substitutes" of philosophical idealism, they only succeeded in creating a counterfeit experience of transcendent communion.

Looking at the heart of things clearly a principle of the Old Testament as well as the New. But in the NT, we learn also that God has concern for the material world and for the details of life, for in the Incarnation He took on all that it is to be human. We read our passages for Divine Liturgy in the light of other Old and New Testament readings that help us to see things in perspective. (Galatians 6:11-18; Luke 12:16-21; 1 Chronicles 28:9)

On Jan 18, we sing the dismissal Theotokion in tone 5. Its deep theology may be unpacked by reference especially to the prophet Ezekiel and Psalm 130/131, as well as by the book of Revelation and some of the fathers of the Church.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Preface, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 1, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 2, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 3, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 4, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 5, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 6, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 7, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 8, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 9, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

Great Lent Unplugged: The Funny, Terrible, Wonderful Journey to Pascha, Chapter 10 and Conclusion, by Jean Hoefling (Regina Orthodox Press, 2007) Available on Amazon.

35. Book 1: The Nativity of our Lord from The Twelve Great Feasts for Children by Mother Melania (Conciliar Press) Book 2: A Perfect Christmas written by Dennis Eugene Engleman and illustrated by Niko Chocheli (Regina Orthodox Press, 2004)

36. Book 1: Good King Wenceslas by John M. Neale (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2005) Book 2: A Perfect Christmas written by Dennis Eugene Engleman and illustrated by Niko Chocheli (Regina Orthodox Press, 2003) part two and conclusion.

If we try to take the Lenten journey alone, we will fail because none of us are strong enough to defeat the army which is against us.

Fr. Alexander Goussetis, priest, comparative religion professor, and interfaith dialogue participant and advocate, speaks with host Kevin Allen about his views on the purpose of interfaith dialogue with Jews, Muslims, and other non-Christians. Kevin asks: Does the Gospel call us to merely understand the faiths of non-Christians, to enter into dialogue with them with no agenda, or is the goal always to try to win those we dialogue with to Christ? Is it "Orthodox" to proselytize, or simply to be a holy witness? These and other questions will be addressed in this program.

The Very Rev. Dr. John H. Erickson, former seminary Dean (2002-2007), speaks at the first annual "Father John Meyendorff Memorial Lecture" at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary on September 15, 2013.

Dr. Predrag Matejić, the curator of the Hilandar Collection at Ohio State University, delivers the third annual Fr. John Meyendorff Memorial Lecture. Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA and Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese were also given honorary doctor of divinity degrees at the convocation.

Dr. Alice-Mary Talbot presented the 4​th annual Father John Meyendorff Memorial Lectu​re at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary on Friday, September 15​, 2017.​ ​Her presentation, titled, Varieties of Monastic Experience in Byzantium, 800–1453, opened a window into Byzantine monasticism that revealed a culture as rich and diverse as the personalities of the monks and nuns who embraced it.​ She highlighted the many ways one could be a Byzantine monk or nun, and the continuous tensions in Byzantium between the eremitic (solitary living) and coenobitic (community living) forms of monasticism.

Listen to reflections about the rich young man, written by Fr. Nicolaie.

Sermon on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Romans 15:1-7; Matthew 9:27-35)

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Fr Thomas encourages the faithful by outlining the goals of Great Lent in the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

As the celebration of Theophany continues, Fr. Tom shows us that all of Christ's redemptive work is set forth to build the Church and bring us to perfection.

The feast of the Entry of the Mother of God affirms the vital importance of the Panagia’s time of preparation as a young girl in the Temple at Jerusalem prior to her momentous assent to the message of Archangel Gabriel that she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit in her womb who was to be named Jesus

Fr. Gregory reads the sermon by Fr. Emmanuel Kahn on the Ascension.