No Other Foundation
Spirit-Suffused Matter and the Ubiquity of the Demonic
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In one part of the rite for hallowing water in the Orthodox baptismal service, we read the following: “The priest then blesses the water by dipping the fingers of his right hand into it and tracing the Sign of the Cross three times. He breathes on the water and says: ‘Let all adverse powers be crushed beneath the sign of the image of Your Cross. We pray You, O God, that every…
Walking an Ancient Path
A Family of Faith, Spiritual and Real
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A few years ago my friend and her family were received into the Orthodox Church. When our priest prayed for the Luceros they did not stand by themselves. In fact, if they wanted to join the Church on their own, they would not be allowed, because the Church is not a gathering of individuals; it is a Eucharistic community. In a beautiful practice birthed in the ancient wisdom of the Church, each…
Faith Encouraged
Not Man's Gospel
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I’ve always been fascinated by philosophy and logical argument constructs. It seems to me that the ability to use one’s intellect to worship God through excellence and discipline is a very great accomplishment, one I’ve always lacked the patience and strength to fully embrace. One particular part of a philosophical argument that grabs my attention is the various logical fallacies that we humans use to “prove” our points or “win” arguments. I…
The Morning Offering
Shutting Out All the Noise
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“Silence is the Cross that crucifies the ego (Saint Seraphim of Sarov).” The desert must be a part of our daily living, for without entering into the desert of the heart, nothing can be gained. With the noise of the radio, television, the Internet, and the world of computers, iPods, laptops, and iPhones, the noise of the world threatens our…
Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
1844: A Disappointing Anniversary
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Faith Encouraged
Excellent
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Every time I hear the word “excellent” I think of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons and it makes me smile. Or, I can go back down memory lane in my mind to “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” Either way, that word has a way of triggering several nostalgic images in my head. But the word also conveys all my training in marketing and business as well. It seems we are always striving…
The Morning Offering
The Seen and the Unseen
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The limits of human reason and the knowledge of God The things that are of God are far beyond the capabilities of our finite mind to comprehend. According to Othodox theology, the divine can only be known through the nous, that place in the heart that is our true center. It, unlike the brain, is capable of knowledge that is…
Faith Encouraged
The Purposeful Discipline of Generosity
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As someone who has spent most of my adult life either as a police officer or in the nonprofit world, I can tell you, generosity is both addictive and life-giving. It really is. Studies have shown that there are real psychological changes in someone’s behavior and mood when they are generous. And it seems we Americans are more generous than ever, but our generosity is changing. In the past few years, there’s…
The Morning Offering
The Morning Offering
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A sort of Orthodox Readers Digest As any of you who have been following my blog articles all these many years know, I am not a theologian. Nor am I an academic. I am simply a monk who has a heart for people, and a calling from the Lord, and a blessing from my bishop, to try, in my feeble…
The Morning Offering
The Christian Home
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Creating a Christian environment in the home Creating a Christian home begins with the icon corner. The “bright corner” becomes the center for every domestic church, and where the family devotions take place. This is also the family’s way of declaring to visitors that this is a Christian home, where Christ is head. Because the husband is a sort of…
Eastern Christian Insights
The Martyrdom of Not Defining Ourselves by Our Passions and Sins: Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the Sixth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church
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2 Corinthians 9:6-11; Luke 8:26-39 A great deal is at stake in how we understand ourselves. How others see us is up to them, but the self-definitions that we accept will shape us all profoundly. If we identify ourselves in ways that obscure what it means to be a human person in God’s image and likeness, our spiritual vision will be out of focus. But if our eyes are opened to…
Father Bill's Blog
148. Saint Luke, Apostle, Evangelist and Provider of Songs
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I’m compulsive about getting this Post out on Fridays. Not this week. My computer went flooey (that’s a technical term) and I had to get a new one and set it up, so here we are, barely, on Saturday. I hope you’ve been able to handle the strain of all this. Me? Not so much. On October 18, Christians in both East and West commemorate the holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke. But “Provider of Songs”, as…
The Morning Offering
Relics
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The place of holy relics in the Orthodox Church Because of the revolution during the period of the Protestant Reformation, the veneration of the saints, came under attack, leading to the burning of the bodies of saints, depriving them of even a Christian burial, and thus leading to perhaps the worst sin of iconoclasm. We see a continuation of this…
Glory to God for All Things
The Good That Lies Within
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The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. Solzhenitsyn’s statement that “even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained,” is,…
Faith Encouraged
Salty Speech
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“Salt makes people thirsty. People are thirsting for more of God’s word. We are the salt, the salt of the earth!” I remember hearing that song as a teenager and thinking “so THAT’S what that means!” Jesus did call we Christians the “salt of the earth” and in His days on earth, salt wasn’t just something that added flavor; it was a valuable commodity that was used to preserve food, provide for…
The Morning Offering
The Corporate Life of the Church
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Without the corporate life of the Church our sins keep us captive It is next to impossible to live as a Christian without the Church. Although immersing ourselves in the assigned daily scripture readings according to the Ecclesiastical Calendar, and keeping a Prayer Rule, are important foundations for a life in Christ for any Christian, these practices are ultimately incomplete…
Faith Encouraged
ALL MINE!
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“MINE!” The toddler was adamant that that toy belonged ONLY to her! She had no intention of allowing anyone else to play with her toy! Now that’s a familiar situation of any parent of small children or any teacher in kindergarten! But that’s also sometimes the unspoken attitude of too many of us when it comes to the spiritual treasures of our Faith. “THAT belongs to US!” Really? Look at our Lesson…
The Morning Offering
The Future of the Church
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Preserving the Church for the Next Generation We are living in an age that has witnessed changes on a massive scale as never before. The way we communicate has changed with the coming of the internet, with information available that would have required a library and advanced degrees to access in the past. Ideas and information are available that leave…
Faith Encouraged
He Who Loves His Wife Loves Himself
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To say that marriage is a hot topic today would be an understatement. But, you have to understand that the motivation for all this controversy about marriage today isn’t new. And it isn’t about equality or fairness or even compassion. It’s about attack. It’s about the real, yet unstated goal of some (after all, if they were honest about what they really wanted hardly anyone would support them) to actually make the…
The Morning Offering
The Mystical Supper
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The Divine Liturgy is the center of the Church’s life, and her most profound prayer At the Mystical Supper in the Upper Room Jesus gave a dramatically new meaning to the food and drink of the sacred meal. He identified Himself with the bread and wine: “Take, eat; this is my Body. Drink of it all of you; for this…
Faith Encouraged
Thank God!
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“3 Easy Steps to a Happy Life” or “The Path to Getting Rich” or “How To Beat The Odds in Vegas” Over and over again we are inundated with this or that “formula” to “be happy” or “rich” or any number of wonderful things that will finally make us content. And these formulas or advice books or courses or seminars are all, to varying degrees, either helpful or a waste of time…
The Morning Offering
Coming Home
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Finding one’s true home in the Orthodox Church The one thing I have learned since my entrance into Orthodoxy is that this is the preserved Church that Christ founded, and the very Church whose first pastors were the apostles themselves. Preserved once and for all, it is neither East nor West, but simply the Church of Christ on this earth.…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Those Who Harm the Church
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Glory to God for All Things
Making the World a Better Place - Or Else
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If you lurk around social media, particularly in conservative conversations, you will have undoubtedly seen something about recent statements on the part of a minor Democratic candidate for the Presidential nomination. I have no interest in the politics of the matter. However, the exchange goes to the heart of the modern impulse and serves as an excellent example of modernity’s dangers. The exchange: Don Lemon: Do you think religious institutions like colleges,…
Faith Encouraged
Hey Aren't You...?
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All I can say was it was embarrassing! I could have sworn the person I ran up to in the store was a buddy of mine from High School. I just knew this was going to be a fun reunion, and we’d laugh about that time we all… and we’d talk about the old days and comment on how hard that Algebra class was and how the teacher was so difficult, and…
The Morning Offering
The Domestic Church
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The incubator for a life of righteousness Prior to electricity and central heating, most families gathered in parlors, spending evenings with reading, sewing, and family conversations. The notion that everyone would retreat to bedrooms, kitchens, or dens, separating themselves from other family members, was unthinkable. The communal nature of the family was natural. I can remember, as a child (this…
Eastern Christian Insights
Mindfulness Bears Fruit: Homily for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council and the Fourth Sunday of Luke in the Orthodox Church
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Titus 3:8-15; Luke 8:5-15 We live in an age of distraction with instant access to whatever entertainment we prefer. Our attention spans have become short because we are used to quick and superficial encounters with sources of information and with other people. We often use technology in a way that is simply a waste of our time, energy, and attention. Our habits are very different from those…
