Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Is It Wrong to Want to be a Priest?
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Every so often I encounter the idea that anyone who wants to be ordained a priest—or, especially, a bishop—never should be. Such a man is probably a control freak, vain, naive, etc. People like that should never be allowed anywhere near the priesthood. St. John Chrysostom’s famous flight from ordination may well be referenced with nods of knowing approval. And certainly, a young woman…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Who is God? (Part 4 of 8): God is Essence and Energies
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Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, March 27, 2016 Hebrews 1:10-2:3; Mark 2:1-12 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today, on the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, which is the second Sunday of Great Lent, we again ask our question in this fourth installment in our eight-part series:…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
One Will per Nature per Person: A Response to Peter Leithart
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Over at his First Things blog, ironically (or fittingly?) adorned with an icon of the baptism of Christ from the Arian baptistry of Theodoric the Ostrogoth, Peter Leithart has a novel idea about the problem of the wills of Christ: It is sometimes argued that the Christological formula of essence and person determines the way to understand person and essence in Trinitarian…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Who is God? (Part 3 of 8): God is Incarnate
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Sunday of Orthodoxy, March 20, 2016 Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-40; John 1:43-51 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today is our third of eight meditations where we ask, “Who is God?” Knowing God is how Jesus defined eternal life (John 17:3), so we keep asking this question, and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Who is God? (Part 2 of 8): God is Our Forgiver
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Sunday of Forgiveness, March 13, 2016 Romans 13:11-14:4; Matthew 6:14-21 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. We continue our eight-part series today where we ask the question, “Who is God?” We are asking this question because we are keeping in mind the words of the Lord Jesus…
Nearly Orthodox
Forgiveness Vespers for the Introvert
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In a few hours I will take up my usual place at church, there along the back wall in the corner. I will stand and listen and pray and think about the sounds of the traffic outside, about the laundry list of things I’ve left undone this weekend, about the trip I’m taking on Thursday out of the country. I will watch the candle light dance. I will inhale the deep scent…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Who is God? (Part 1 of 8): God is Our Judge
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Sunday of the Last Judgment, March 6, 2016 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2; Matthew 25:31-46 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. As we are now on the verge of the first stage of our fasting, today we begin an eight-week sermon series, which will last all the way through…
Nearly Orthodox
Heavy on the Prayer
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All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being. 1 Cor. 10:23-24 It’s always election season now. When one heated race concludes, it seems that the build up to the next, more heated one begins immediately. It takes a certain fortitude to survive social media…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Failure at Prayer: On the Publican and Pharisee
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Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, February 21, 2016 2 Timothy 3:10-15; Luke 18:10-14 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Is it possible to be a failure at prayer? The answer is “yes,” and today we’ll talk about two failures at prayer, depicted for us in…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Dec 2016: The Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy Revised, Updated & Expanded Edition
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And here’s the answer to the question that gets asked of me nearly every day now: God willing, Ancient Faith Publishing will release the revised, expanded and updated edition of Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy in December 2016. What’s new? Besides being more than 50% larger and also being retooled to speak not only to the Orthodox but also the non-Orthodox, here are some…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Do Orthodox Christians Have Jesus in Their Hearts?
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Sunday of the Canaanite Woman, February 14, 2016 II Corinthians 6:16b-18, 7:1; Matthew 15:21-28 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “You are a temple of the living God, even as God has said: ‘I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
Why Should Pentecostals Become Orthodox Christians? A Short Answer
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The following is adapted from the working text for the revised, expanded edition of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy: Finding the Way to Christ in a Complicated Religious Landscape, which is available as an updated podcast, with a new episode available weekly. The first edition of the book from 2011 is still available. This passage is adapted from the concluding passage of the all-new…
Nearly Orthodox
Not Yet Lent: Listening Season
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That quirky calendar has created a wide gap between the “western” Lent and the “eastern” Lent once again. All I can think is that my Peeps are going to be really really stale by the time I eat them. It’s a small thing and honestly, as I get older, peeps become less and less palatable. Let’s just say that if you are a confirmed Peep hater, you can feel a little bit…
Nearly Orthodox
Laundry, Liturgy and Care for the Soul
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Front loading washers have what I consider a hideous secret flaw. I noticed it a few weeks after the new washer was installed. That was a headache story on its own so I’ll spare you the details but suffice it to say that when the project was finally done it was a huge relief. I swear I could look in the direction of that new washing machine and see a beam of…
Nearly Orthodox
Words that bite, Love that heals
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“If you cannot be merciful, at least speak as though you are a sinner. If you are not a peacemaker, at least do not be a troublemaker. If you cannot be assiduous, at least in your thought be like a sluggard. If you are not victorious, do not exalt yourself over the vanquished. If you cannot close the mouth of a man who disparages his companion, at least refrain from joining him…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Is Witness More Important Than Worship?
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Today, I came across a meme image on Facebook showing a man walking out of church and featuring the following statement: Your most significant witness is how you treat others after the worship service ends. I’ve seen this sentiment before. The idea here is that, while worship is important, its true purpose is to equip or inspire believers to go out and bring Christ…
Nearly Orthodox
Lost and Found
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Some of my best thinking happens when I’m supposed to be focusing on other things, you know, like cooking or baking. Unfortunately, it leads to some of my worst cooking or baking. Last week we lost track of my husband’s laptop. He does editing and writing and film work, so it’s important I tell you that he has more than one laptop. This one is lightweight, small and compact. He uses it…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Priesthood Is... (Anonymous Comments from Orthodox Priests)
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I recently had the idea to ask Orthodox Christian priests to give me a short sentence or two about the priesthood—something honest and anonymous. I was delighted at the responses I got, from experienced priests, from those ordained only a short time, and from those somewhere in between. Some were heartening. Some were painful. Some were paradoxical. And some were a bit humorous. Some…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Heaven in the Desert: Anthony the Great and the Longing for God
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Feast of St. Anthony the Great / Twelfth Sunday of Luke, January 17, 2016 Hebrews 13:17-21; Luke 17:12-19 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In the year 270, a twenty-year-old man whose parents had recently died stood in church and heard these words from Matthew chapter 19:…
Nearly Orthodox
Skin Deep
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or, “what skin care teaches me about prayer…” Earlier this past year I went to the dermatologist finally after years of battling this tenacious affliction of rosacea. It had gotten so bad that nothing would cover it. I’d dab and pat and powder and for maybe five minutes it looked fine. The moment I left the safety of my bathroom mirror it would rise up through the patting and powdering, that…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Christianity is Not About Your Spiritual Life
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Sunday after Theophany, January 10, 2016 Ephesians 4:7-13; Matthew 4:12-17 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “To each one of us is given the grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” This phrase from Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians is appointed for us to…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Time of Beginnings: 3 Resolutions for the New Year
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Sunday before the Theophany of Christ, January 3, 2016 2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. We are now just three days into 2016—the new year. It would be tempting, of course, to say that for Orthodox Christians, this is not the “real”…
Nearly Orthodox
New Year's, Zombies, Lamentations
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I set out today to write about New Year’s Day and the blank wall it seems to offer each year. I sat and stared at that blank wall, thinking, “Well, there’s that then. Time to get on with the big bright shiny blank new year.” It’s not really blank, you know. There are variations in the paint, chips here and there, maybe a faded handprint, if I look real close. I might…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Rhyming in Scripture: Stephen and the Flight Into Egypt
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Sunday after the Nativity / Feast of St. Stephen, December 27, 2015 Acts 6:8-7:5, 47-60; Matthew 2:13-23 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is born! Glorify Him! On the second day after Christmas, we celebrate the holy Proto-martyr and Archdeacon Stephen, and we hear the story…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Christmas Means War
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Sunday before the Nativity, December 20, 2015 Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-15 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Here we are, just five days before Christmas. It’s the Sunday before. And there’s always a lot this time of year talking about the “true meaning of Christmas,” the…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
You MAKE Me So Angry: How Do I Acquire the Spirit of Peace?
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Why is it that some people so easily make us mad? It seems that even some person we don’t know on the Internet can drive us crazy, stir up anger, inspire our scorn and derision, etc. Or some people can send us spiraling into anxiety, despair or depression. When this person or that does (or doesn’t do) that one thing, well, I just get……
Nearly Orthodox
Pause.
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Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. Hebrews 4:1 I need some rest. I can tell because my eye is twitching. My eye twitches like this when I’m overly tired or overwhelmed. Last night I lay in bed and the “to do” list in my head switched on. I stared at the ceiling, eye twitching, mind…
