Every Thought Captive
What is Christian Social Thought?
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“Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25:40 In “Yorktown,” the climax to the first half of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, the victory that marks the end of the American Revolution ends with the refrain “the world turned upside down”—an apt description of the birth of the first modern, liberal, democratic republic that has survived to the present. A decade later, a very different liberal and democratic Revolution in France would…
Walking an Ancient Path
Giving Thanks for the Waiting
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As I begin preparing the Thanksgiving meal a few dishes at a time—making cranberry sauce and pie dough on Monday; assembling pies, baking cornbread for stuffing, and brining the turkey on Tuesday—the importance of giving thanks in all things is at the forefront of my mind. I’m thinking about thankfulness because my supply is running low. This holiday season the sadness of dashed expectations is present daily, humming in the background.…
Faith Encouraged
Learning How to Die to Death!
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One of the most fundamental marks of maturity is the clear and unmistakable realization that actions have consequences. Ideas have consequences because they become actions. And avoiding consequences is always a sign of immaturity. No wonder our modern world is struggling, as it has always struggled, with the consequences of ideologies and actions. And we see it everywhere. From the sad state of affairs in the war-torn Middle East to our very…
Word of the Day
Glorified in the Saints and In Us (Tues. Nov. 24)
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Once again, the word of the day is “glorified.” In our reading of 2 Thessalonians 1:10-2:2, St. Paul writes that he prays constantly for his congregation as they face certain trials that he does not name.  His  concern is not on what the Thessalonians should do to prevail in their troubles. His focus is on God’s work in them. Thus, he prays “that the name of Christ may be glorified in you and you in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 12). Paul has just promised that when Christ returns in glory, he will be “glorified in his saints” (vs. 10). But now he applies that thought to those all who believe…
The Morning Offering
Remembering One's First Love
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“None are so old as those who’ve outlived enthusiasm (Henry David Thoreau).” Given my many cancelled lectures around the country due to the pandemic shutdown, I am now living the life of a hermit. Good for most monks I would guess, but certainly not my cup of tea. I really miss encountering people at the lectures, and sharing with many…
Faith Encouraged
Our Eternal Kingdom IS A Person!
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Through all of human history, humanity has conceived of the “perfect” society and each time we humans have endeavored to build it, it turned out to either fail or become a nightmare. In 1787, the Founding Fathers of the United States met in Independence Hall in Philadelphia to hammer out the Constitution of the United States, the governing document of the nation. When a lady asked Benjamin Franklin outside the Hall “Well, Doctor,…
Word of the Day
God Glorified in His Saints (Mon. Nov. 23)
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The word of the day is “glorified.” Today with 2 Thessalonians 1:1-10, we begin St. Paul’s second letter to his congregation in Thessalonica, the important crossroads of Macedonia. The Apostle writes from Ephesus in about 51 AD within months of his first letter. But now, he refers to the “persecutions and tribulations” that his congregation is undergoing (vs. 4).  He consoles them that their afflictions are evidence that they are worthy of the kingdom of God for which they now suffer (vs. 5). On the Day of Christ’s Coming St. Paul assures the flock that God will settle accounts with their persecutors and those who neither know Him nor obey the gospel. God’s will carry out His justice when the…
The Morning Offering
Let Peace Reign
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During difficult times it is important that we let peace reign in our hearts A number of recent disturbing events within the life of the Church have left many, including some clergy and monastics, with the sense of gloom, wondering what’s coming next. During times like this it is good to remember that nothing has changed during the two thousand…
The Morning Offering
Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis
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YouTube video of Abbot Tryphon’s homily on Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis. (Click above to watch)
Remembering Sion
When God Does Not Come
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We hear in today’s Gospel passage an account of two people coming to the Lord in desperation, each begging for His help in a totally hopeless situation. And it is this fact which is of the greatest importance: despite all evidence, and even in absolute defiance of simple common sense, neither of these two people despaired of the power of God to heal what no earthly skill or craft or knowledge could…
Eastern Christian Insights
Overcoming "the Dividing Wall of Hostility" as the Living Temple of God: Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, the Ninth Sunday of Luke, and the After-feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple in the Orthodox Church
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Ephesians 2:14-22; Luke 12:16-21    Today we continue to celebrate the feast of the Entrance into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. Her elderly parents Joachim and Anna offered Mary to God by taking her to live in the Temple in Jerusalem as a young girl, where she grew up in prayer and purity as she prepared to become the Living Temple of the Lord in a unique and extraordinary…
Word of the Day
The Church and the Temple: a Comparison (Sun. Nov. 22)
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The word of the day is “temple .” In our reading of Ephesians 2:14-22, St. Paul compares the Church to a holy temple that is built on a solid foundation. Further, he emphasizes that Christ is the Cornerstone who unites the Church’s members into a sacred dwelling place of God. In our reading, Paul draws the analogy between the building of the Old Testament temple in Jerusalem and the nature of the Church. There are three main comparisons: the foundation, the Cornerstone, and the materials that “fitted together” make up the building as a dwelling place for God. First, let me explain that the Book of Hebrews speaks of the “tabernacle,” not the temple.   This “Tent of Meeting” was a…
The Morning Offering
Sharing Orthodoxy in a Post-Christian Age
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Others cannot know they need Christ if they do not see Him in us Christ empowers us to change the hearts and minds of others by the example of our allowing Christ to change us. In the words of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, if we “acquire a humble and contrite heart, a thousand around us will be saved”. If others…
Word of the Day
Subtlety and Simplicity: a Study of Two Eves (Sat. Nov. 21)
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The word for the day is “simplicity.” In our reading of 2 Cor. 11:1-6, St. Paul expresses his concern about the false preacher in Corinth. He worries that their subtle arguments will deceive his flock. He writes, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (vs. 3). Today we celebrate the “Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.” Our reading refers to Eve, the first “Mother of all the Living” (Genesis 3:20).  But the Virgin Mary, the focus of today’s feast, is the “New Eve” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3, 19, p. 130). The Opposites of Subtlety and Simplicity By her…
The Morning Offering
When God Seems Absent
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Those times when God seems absent are only an illusion Sometimes we enter a dark place where God seems distant from us. This is only an illusion, for God is closer to us than our own breath. These times are allowed by God to bring us closer to Him, much like the loving parent who stands her child on his…
No Other Foundation
The Beatitudes – “Blessed are the merciful”
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We continue with our series on the Beatitudes. Today we examine our Lord’s words, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”. Long familiarity with our Lord’s words and Christian teaching generally have desensitized us to how revolutionary this teaching originally was. Even today one need only take a few steps outside of what’s left of Christendom to discover this. Take for example the experience of Christine Mallouhi, a Christian woman…
Every Thought Captive
Books are Technology, Too
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In his famous poem, “Archaic Torso of Apollo,” Rainer Maria Rilke writes about the experience of looking at a great piece of art. His point is that great art looks at us, too; we find ourselves observed, questioned and judged. I argue that this is as true of literary art as of sculpture. What will we do after we close the book? The last line of Rilke’s poem tells us, “You must change your life.” The same Orthodox Christians who rightly express concern over the dangers of gaming…
Glory to God for All Things
I Will Go Into the Altar of God
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Most of my early Church memories center around Sunday School (I think that we did not “stay for preaching” very often). The small Baptist church that we attended was about a mile from our house and was conveniently connected by a railroad track, generally inactive on Sundays. My older brother and I often walked along the track on Sunday mornings when the weather was pleasant. The earliest Bible verses I can recall…
Faith Encouraged
Our God is a Consuming Fire!
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It was insulting. It was hurtful. And, to make matters worse, it wasn’t fair. I was shocked when someone I truly cared about started saying some very hurtful things about me to someone else. I guess my ego was so big that I believed no one would ever do such a thing to me. But that was a fault I had to get over. If the first lie ever told was a…
Word of the Day
Appointed for Wrath or Salvation? (Fri, Nov. 20)
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The word of the day is “appoint.” In our reading of 1 Thessalonians 5:9-13, 24-28, St. Paul assures the congregation at Thessalonica of God’s benevolent intentions for them.  The Apostle writes, “For God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 9). Paul has just warned his flock against the sleep of complacency and carelessness as they wait for the return of Christ. But he quickly adds that God has no desire to catch them in the darkness of sin (vs. 9). Paul reassures the believers in this bustling city that they are not appointed to “wrath.” The Greek word for “wrath” refers to the strongest of passions, the burning anger of…
The Morning Offering
Broken
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What must we do when we feel broken? It is only human to become despondent when we have failed in keeping to our moral, ethical and spiritual standards, succumbing, instead, to temptation. Our Orthodox Faith teaches that we must be compassionate towards others, loving, quick to forgive, exemplar in our Christian living, and always demonstrating to the world that we…
Faith Encouraged
A Thief in the Night!
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He loved scaring me. I had a buddy of mine who thought it was hilarious to sneak up behind me and yell as loud as he could. Of course, I’d jump two feet off the ground and he’d just laugh and laugh. After I stopped shaking, I’d laugh with him. It was fun. After a while though, I started expecting it and he didn’t scare me anymore. That’s what happens when you’re…
Word of the Day
Children of the Light and of the Day (Thurs. Nov. 19)
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The word of the day is “light.” In our reading of 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8, St. Paul writes that the day of the Lord’s return will surprise many who are heedless and unprepared. But not his congregation. They are “sons of light and sons of the day” (vs. 5:5). They live in the daytime of Christ’s light. Even so, Paul admonishes them to stay awake, sober, vigilant, and ready to greet the Lord when He comes as Lord and Judge of the world. Paul’s declaration that the faithful are children of the light arises naturally from the thought that the Lord will come “like a thief in the night” (vs. 2). The analogy of the burglar who breaks into a house…
The Morning Offering
Isolation
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Isolation does not have to be a part of our world The Church is the Body of Christ and by Her very nature is anything but an institution wherein one can be isolated from others. We only let it be so if we fail to involve ourselves as the people of God, with one another. The greeting given by Orthodox…
A Healing Driven Life
The Healing Power of the Nativity
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It is the time of year that makes some shudder. The days have become shorter, the colorful landscape has turned darker, the leaves have begun to rustle, the clouds have changed, the air has grown colder, and the way the wind blows speaks of change and of a season ending. However, it is not far into this time that we begin to see a different light appear. It is the light of the Nativity season. The shuddering of some is now forgotten as we behold the first appearing of Christmas lights, bows, and Christmas trees. We suddenly find ourselves embracing this time of year as we finally let go of the light of summer and embrace the light of our…
Faith Encouraged
Is Your Life Chaste and Holy?
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The word Holy means “set apart for a specific and exclusive use.” Something or someone who is holy is singularly dedicated to a single purpose and action. No wonder the Church gives us the gift of marriage as an icon of faithfulness and dedication to teach us about our true purpose in belonging only to Jesus. Being faithful is the whole purpose of the Christian’s life. And the only way to be…
Word of the Day
A Quiet Life in a Noisy Society (Wed. Nov. 18)
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The word of the day is “quiet.” In our reading of 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, St. Paul gives some practical advice for living in a world of noisy frenzy such as ours.  The Apostle writes, “… that you aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you” (vs. 10). In Paul’s day, the city of Thessalonica was the hub of the government, politics, commerce, military, and culture of Greece. It was a multi-racial and cosmopolitan city at the crossroad of prosperous East-West and North-South trading routes. Moreover, it was a flourishing port city on the Aegean Sea. Living a Quiet Life in a Noisy World Imagine how turbulent…
