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Ancient Faith Blogs presents a select group of writers and thinkers who regularly post on matters of theology, culture, art, parish, and family life.
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Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Covered in Blood and Gold
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Shepherding our Little Flock
Living the Seasons of Our Lives
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. – Ecclesiastes 3:1 Image by https://www.pexels.com/@kasuma As I write this post it is summer. Ah, summer. A season of warm weather, vacations, ripe fruits and, for my family God willing, lots of swimming. It is not a time of schedules and routines. We have been in the midwest on a family holiday with sunset boat paddles…
Faith Encouraged
You NEED to Marvel!
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Welcome to the second day of the Dormition Fast! The wisdom of the fasting disciplines of the Church is meant to reinforce the reality that unless the faith is holistically practiced, that is it affects every aspect of your person, the real danger of compartmentalization exists! I know this is a constant temptation for me! This idea that the Faith is only one part of my life. When, in fact, the Faith…
The Morning Offering
TASTE THE PRESENCE
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Taste the Presence of Christ Beside You We all need a good dose of silent prayer each and every day. Finding that perfect place in your home that can become your cave, or prayer closet, will afford you that sacred space wherein you can go deep into the heart and connect with God. That place wherein you can close off…
Word of the Day
What Belongs in the Church and What Must be Kept Outside (Mon. August 2)
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The word for the day is “outside.”  Today’s society presents us with a choice: either prejudice or toleration.  To avoid prejudice, is our only option to accept anything or anyone as part of our fellowship? In our reading of 1 Corinthians 5:9-6:11, Paul teaches that we must draw a line between who and what are “inside” and “outside the church.”  Paul says, “I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.  Yet I certainly did not mean sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters since then you would need to go out of this world” (OSB vs. 9-10). Today we will review the cases that reveal the…
The Morning Offering
THE CHURCH IN THE 21ST CENTURY
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Will the Church Thrive into the Twenty-first Century? For Orthodoxy to thrive into the next century, we must see a return to the very roots of our faith, where the Church proclaims the Good News of Christ in all its purity, and centers herself in the mystical and sacramental core of her very being. She must offer the transformational healing…
Eastern Christian Insights
How to Take Up Our Crosses and Be Transfigured in the Dormition Fast: Homily for the Sixth Sunday After Pentecost, the Sixth Sunday of Matthew, and the Procession of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross in the Orthodox Church
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Romans 12:6-14; Matthew 9:1-8      Today we enter a very rich period in the life of the Church, for we are beginning the Dormition Fast as we process with our Lord’s Cross and prepare to celebrate the feast of His Transfiguration. “Dormition” means “falling asleep” and every year at this time we commemorate the end of the earthly life of the Mother of God, after which she followed…
Word of the Day
How We Use the Gifts of the Spirit Is as Important as What We Do (Sun. August 1)
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The word for the day is “with.”  As long as the job is done, does it matter how we do it?  Does our attitude make a difference?  If we give to someone hungry but do it with condescension, doesn’t the person still get fed?  And if we provide an offering grudgingly, doesn’t the church still use the money for good? In today’s reading of Romans 12:6-14, Paul lists the “grace-gifts” the Holy Spirit distributes among church members.  He states, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given us, let us use them” (Romans 12:6).  Today we will discover that the apostle does not only urge that the faithful put the Holy Spirit’s gifts to work for ministry.  But he…
Frederica.com
"The Ethics of Beauty"
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[July 17, 2021] I’m a fan of Prof Timothy Patitsas’s new book, “The Ethics of Beauty.” It’s a beautiful reading experience. Here’s a mini-review: What’s the point of Beauty? A practical-minded culture may be sure we need Goodness and Truth, but Beauty seems expendable. A drive around the beltway of…
Glory to God for All Things
Face-to-Face - Without Shame or Fear
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We are apparently living in the age of the face, and I don’t think it’s necessarily bad.  I know all the complaints about our culture of “selfies,” and there are certainly many things in that to make us wonder, but our fascination with our faces long predates the technology of our phones. In the usage of the early Church, the word for face (prosopon) is also the word for person. It is…
Word of the Day
Loving God and Our Neighbor to the Limit (Sat. July 31)
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The word for the day is “sorrow.” How far can love go? What are its limits? St. Porphyrios wrote, “He who loves little, gives little. He who loves more gives more, and he who loves beyond measure what has he to give? He gives himself” (Porphyrios 2005, 96). In our reading of Romans 9:1-5, Paul expresses the extent of his love for his fellow Jews. He says, “I have great sorry and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh” (OSB vs. 2-3). Today we probe into this depth of love for others, and it inspires us also to seek to love to…
The Morning Offering
FEEDING OUR SOUL
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How to Find Hope in the Face of Our Mortality Earlier this week I was listening to one of the last songs recorded by Johnny Cash, probably the best country western singer of all time. The line in his song, “put me in my box on the 309”, is coming from a man who was facing his own imminent death.…
Behind the Scenes
Humans of Ancient Faith: Nancy Colakovic
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Humans of Ancient Faith is a series of mini-interviews designed to introduce you to the many wonderful human beings who make this ministry possible. Today’s guest is our business manager Nancy Colakovic. ++++++++++++++ If you were named for your defining characteristic, what word or phrase would be your name? Well, my baptismal name is Nevenka, and it’s derived from a type of flower known as Neven (Serbian), which we know of as…
A Lamp for Today
Lighting Up the Apocalypse 13: The Lamb in Two Places
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Revelation 5, Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 43 One of the glories of a God-given vision is that, by it, we can be shown matters that seem logically contradictory, but remain true in their paradox, and demand to be kept together. Chapter 5 of Jesus’ Apocalypse to John is famous for the picture of a slaughtered-standing Lion-Lamb.  In this visionary description of our Lord, we see two double mysteries. First, Jesus’ resurrection does not…
Faith Encouraged
Treasures In The Field
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He looked at me right in the face and said the words I will never forget: “When you’re ready to sell all you have to have this faith, then, and only then will you be ready!” Whoa, wait a minute, let’s talk about this! Everything? Yep, everything. It was a turning point in my own spiritual journey and I was having to confront my own desire to “play it safe” or not…
Word of the Day
Replacing Pride with Humility and Gratitude (Fri. July 30)
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The word of the day is “received.”  It takes the spiritual gift of discernment to recognize the difference between what comes from our own ego and what comes from the Spirit of Christ. What originates in our ego comes from our own pride.  But we receive what is of Christ.  We can only accept it with humility and gratitude as a gift.  In today’s study, we will learn that this attitude will enable us to set aside the pride that is so divisive and attain the peace of contentment with what God gives. In our reading of 1 Cor. 4:5-8, St. Paul sternly rebukes the boasting of the Corinthians.  Their judgments of each other are driving a wedge between them.…
The Morning Offering
TRUE KNOWLEDGE
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Simplicity and Humility Lead to True Knowledge The Apostle Paul tells us that it is better to be ignorant in speech rather than in spiritual knowledge (2 Cor. 11:6). Being skilled in speaking is a matter of human learning, as are the other forms of worldly education, but they do not contribute to the salvation of the soul. Even if…
Behind the Scenes
Humans of Ancient Faith: Dr. Gary Jenkins
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Humans of Ancient Faith is a series of mini-interviews designed to introduce you to the many wonderful human beings who make this ministry possible. We asked the same 5 questions in each interview, and let the interviewee choose a sixth question. Today’s guest is podcaster Dr. Gary Jenkins. ++++++++++++++ If you were named for your defining characteristic, what word or phrase would be your name? Professore (spoken with an Italia accent, PROfesSORe, as…
Faith Encouraged
Weeds in The Garden of My Heart
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OK, let me confess something; I am not very talented when it comes to growing things. In fact, every time I’ve tried to plant and tend a garden, it has ended up either overrun by weeds or eaten by critters or over watered or under watered! I just don’t have the proverbial “green thumb.” I don’t know why. Maybe it’s a lack of patience or a lack of discipline. Or maybe it’s…
Word of the Day
Delivered from This Age: Living in the Age to Come (July 29)
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The word for today is “age.”  In video games, the gamer explores different worlds.  The potential for the creation of such alternative universes is endless. But these possibilities pose a question.  In what “world” do we live?  In our reading of 1 Corinthians 3:18-23, Paul speaks of “being wise in this age” (OSB vs. 18).  Again, he speaks of the “wisdom of this world” (OSB vs. 19).  Today we explore the thought that the Lord has called us to live in a higher reality than “this age” or “this world.” In his comments on our reading, St. John Chrysostom says, “For all with us goes by contraries” (NfPF1:12, 54).  The opposites that the famous preacher has in mind are summed up in…
The Morning Offering
SITUATION ETHICS
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Situation Ethics Versus Biblical Morality Situation ethics has become the norm for our times, having replaced the biblical ethics of past generations. In situation ethics as long as no one is hurt one can do as one pleases. Taking drugs, watching pornography and aborting the unborn child, all can come under the flag of situation ethics. Taking drugs is seen…
Behind the Scenes
Humans of Ancient Faith: Melissa Naasko
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Humans of Ancient Faith is a series of mini-interviews designed to introduce you to the many wonderful human beings who make this ministry possible. We asked the same 5 questions in each interview, and let the interviewee choose a sixth question. Today’s guest is author Melissa Naasko. ++++++++++++++ If you were named for your defining characteristic, what word or phrase would be your name? Oh my gosh, this requires a lot of…
Faith Encouraged
My Pawpaw Told The Best Stories
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My grandfather was an amazing storyteller. He was always a larger-than-life figure in my eyes as a boy and still is even as a grown man. He had this ability to mesmerize us grandkids with his stories of being a police officer in Atlanta, and the stories of his adventures with his friends. To this day, I have no idea if any of these stories he told actually happened! He was that…
Word of the Day
Natural Knowledge and Spiritual Wisdom (Wed. July 28)
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The word of the day is “knowledge.”  Socrates said that the only thing I know is that I know nothing.  Western civilization pays homage to Socrates, yet the claims to knowledge in our society are thousands of times more abundant than authentic learning. It is the same for religious understanding. In today’s reading of 1 Corinthians 2:9-3:8, Paul addresses the claims of spiritual knowledge that are dividing the Corinthian congregation. He writes “But the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned” (OSB vs. 14).  In this way, he challenges the bitter disputes in the fellowship over who has the…
The Morning Offering
MODEST ATTIRE
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The Importance of Modest Attire for Christians The Old Testament is filled with the image of God’s people being a holy people, set apart. The ancient Israelites were not like their neighbors. Their values and their faith impacted everything about them. They dressed differently than many of their neighboring pagan tribes. Their worship was centered on the God that had…
Glory to God for All Things
The Frontier of Personhood
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The word “frontier” has long been associated with certain aspects of American mythology. “Frontier Days” is short-hand for log cabins, flintlocks, and the rugged life. Occasionally it takes on aspects of the “Wild West.” In recent generations it has been moved off-planet, such that we hear Captain Kirk intone, “Space…….the final frontier.” It is also a word whose meaning has been forgotten, as our mythology has overtaken it. Originally (15th century), the…
Behind the Scenes
Humans of Ancient Faith: Fr. Stephen Siniari
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Humans of Ancient Faith is a series of mini-interviews designed to introduce you to the many wonderful human beings who make this ministry possible. We asked the same 5 questions in each interview, and let the interviewee choose a sixth question. Today’s guest is author Fr. Stephen Siniari. ++++++++++++++ If you were named for your defining characteristic, what word or phrase would be your name? Ever hopeful. What is your earliest specifically Orthodox…