Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Is the Church a Refuge?
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Sunday of the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, October 15, 2017 Titus 3:8-15; Luke 8:5-15 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today in the eighth chapter of Luke’s Gospel we read again the familiar parable of the Sower and his seed. As we consider this…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Do the Orthodox Have Confessions?
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
The Original Severe Protestant: The Prophetic Calvin
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
God Has Visited His People
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Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost / Third Sunday of Luke, October 8, 2017 II Corinthians 9:6-11; Luke 7:11-16 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “God has visited His people!” I must admit to many “favorites” in the Scripture, and that line is certainly one of them. Can’t…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
What John Calvin Really Thought about Icons in the Church
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
The True Church and the American Church: How Protestant Ecclesiology Got Here
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Making Peace with the Apocalypse: What Luther Taught Me About Living in the Light of Eternity
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
The Reformation: A Revolution of Conscience
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Nearly Orthodox
Context and Spiritual Insecurity
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“Anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity.” ―Thomas Merton This quote comes up in my Twitter feed almost weekly. It always seems to catch me when I’m in a grumpy mood. That said, these days I’m always cranky when I read Twitter. I need to change my feed– or I need to change my habit of checking Twitter. This quote is out of context, and as such, it conveys a terrible message…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
What Reformers Before the Reformers?
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Love is Not a Two-Way Street
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Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost / Second Sunday of Luke, October 1, 2017 II Corinthians 6:16b-18, 7:1; Luke 6:31-36 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Most ethical philosophy is ultimately about fairness and can roughly be resolved into the so-called “Golden Rule,” to treat others as you…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Early Lutherans and the Greek Church
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
The Reformation at 500: An Orthodox View
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of an October 2017 series of posts on the Reformation and Protestantism written by O&H authors and guest writers marking the 500th anniversary of the nailing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Articles are written by Orthodox Christians and discuss not just the Reformation as a historical…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Age of Taking Church for Granted is Over
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Feast of Ss. Thekla and Silouan / First Sunday of Luke, September 24, 2017 II Timothy 3:10-15; Luke 5:1-11 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. The age of taking church for granted is over. We Christians just largely haven’t realized it yet. But the evidence is…
Nearly Orthodox
Inquiry Seeking Wisdom
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The first piece of creative non-fiction I ever had published appeared in Saint Katherine Review. The journal was new and the editor at the time was my friend, Scott Cairns. Back then, though, we didn’t know each other very well, so the fact of our acquaintance didn’t hold much sway. And, in truth, I didn’t send that piece to SKR because Scott was the editor, I sent it because Kathleen Norris was…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Orthodoxy in America Has a Convert Problem
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The Orthodox Church in the United States has problems. One of the problems the Orthodox Church currently suffers in this country is a lack of converts. There are other problems as well: overlapping jurisdictions, lack of communication across jurisdictional lines, and a tendency to isolate ourselves from communities in which we live. But it is our lack of converts that strikes me…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Of Course I'm Not Ashamed of Jesus!
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Sunday after the Elevation of the Cross, September 17, 2017 Galatians 2:16-20; Mark 8:34-9:1 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of the things I have noticed as a pastor is that a lot of our spiritual struggles these days revolve around the question of how…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Review of "Orthodox Christianity Volume IV: The Worship and Liturgical Life of the Orthodox Church" by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev
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ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY VOLUME IV: THE WORSHIP AND LITURGICAL LIFE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH. By Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev. Yonkers: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2016. 382 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-88141-522-0. In this fourth volume of his encyclopedic work Orthodox Christianity, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk has provided especially for us Orthodox Christians in America what just may be the most readable, comprehensive, and informative book on…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Love vs. Truth: Who Wins?
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The Sunday Before the Elevation of the Cross, September 10, 2017 Galatians 6:11-18; John 3:13-17 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. I was recently in a conversation on the Internet in which someone said that in theological conversation truth is the most important thing, not the…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Whose Vineyard is This, Anyway?
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Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost / Thirteenth Sunday of Matthew, September 3, 2017 I Corinthians 16:13-24; Matthew 21:33-42 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. If you have something truly wonderful to share with people, how do you get it to them? How do you get this wonderful…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Tale of Two Rich Young Men
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Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost / Twelfth Sunday of Matthew, August 27, 2017 I Corinthians 15:1-11; Matthew 19:16-26 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today let’s hear the stories of two rich young men—one whose name we do not know, who encounters Jesus directly during His earthly…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
How My Mother's Life Interprets Mine
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The following is an excerpt from a longer talk, titled “We’re All Absalom: Emerging Into Adulthood Alongside Our Parents,” which can be heard on Ancient Faith Radio. I delivered the talk at the 2017 Antiochian Archdiocese Convention for the Young Adult Ministry. The photo above is of my mother on her wedding day in 1972. Her name was Sandy, and my mother was always…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Orthodox Theologies of the Afterlife: Review of "The Departure of the Soul"
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Editor’s Note: The following is a review of The Departure of the Soul According to the Teaching of the Orthodox Church, published April 2017 by St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery, Florence, Arizona. It was sent to us by Dr. Paul Ladouceur originally as four separate posts, but we have combined them here into one, since they are closely related and also since…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Church Work is Mostly Disappointing
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Clergy often share ministry stories and then say, “They didn’t teach me that in seminary!” One of the things that I wasn’t taught in seminary (and wish I were) is that ministry in church life is mostly a disappointment. We clergy don’t often like to talk about that. I mean, who would like to say that most of the time, the work they do,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Holiness How-To: Imitate our Gospel Parents
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Tenth Sunday after Pentecost / Tenth Sunday of Matthew, August 13, 2017 I Corinthians 4:9-16; Matthew 17:14-23 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. For though you have a myriad of tutors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for I begat you in Christ…
Nearly Orthodox
Theologians
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I’ve been steadily working on this new book that’s due out late next year. It involves reading through the first volume of the Philokalia, one page at a time, and then reflecting on something I’ve read there. It’s slow-going because it’s a meaty work but also because of the nature of my crazy life. Let’s be honest, though. My life probably isn’t much crazier than yours. We all have stuff to do,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Transfiguration as Model for Ministry
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Holy Transfiguration of Christ, August 6, 2017 II Peter 1:10-19; Matthew 17:1-9 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today we see God. Today we see Jesus Christ standing on Mount Tabor before His three inner circle disciples—Peter, James and John—and He is transfigured before them, His…
