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The Priesthood Is… (Anonymous Comments from Orthodox Priests)

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
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…

Heaven in the Desert: Anthony the Great and the Longing for God

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
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:…

Christianity is Not About Your Spiritual Life

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
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…

A Time of Beginnings: 3 Resolutions for the New Year

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
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”…

Rhyming in Scripture: Stephen and the Flight Into Egypt

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
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…

Christmas Means War

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
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…

You MAKE Me So Angry: How Do I Acquire the Spirit of Peace?

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
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……

St. Nicholas, Enemy of Demons

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Feast of Nicholas the Wonder-worker / Tenth Sunday of Luke, December 6, 2015 Hebrews 13:17-21; Luke 13:10-17 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On the sixth of December we remember one of the most famous Christians in the world, Nicholas the Wonder-worker, archbishop of Myra in Lycia,…