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What if a heartbroken Catholic knocks on my church door?

I have watched now over the past few weeks as each awful page is turned in the growing sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. It’s been bad for years now, but what’s come out just recently is looking even worse. I have been very hesitant to say much publicly on this, because it is so fraught with possible missteps. So forgive me…

The Churching of Infants: Reflections on Liturgics in a Pan-Orthodox World

Among my less-public duties is that I serve in the Department of Liturgics for the archdiocese in which I serve. I am not a liturgical scholar nor a translator. My job is mainly to help make sure that the English we use is the finest and most appropriate. I am, however, a liturgist in the sense of being a liturgical celebrant at the holy…

“Blessing”: Does It Actually Mean Anything?

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost / Sixth Sunday of Matthew, July 8, 2018 Romans 12:6-14; Matthew 9:1-8 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today I would like to speak about blessing and cursing. Our epistle reading from Romans 12 ends with this verse: “Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse”…

The Paralysis of Life on the Go

Sunday of the Paralytic, April 29, 2018 Acts 9:32-42; John 5:1-15 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is risen! Something happened in my life this past week that for years I wasn’t sure would ever happen. And it’s something that hadn’t happened in my life for almost 20 years. On Friday,…